Readers discuss impacts of the Budget, what caused the fires in Hong Kong to spread and where the Government spend taxpayers money (Picture: Jacob King / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
Reader says they are 'certainly not rich', and the Budget does 'nothing' for them
So, A Lloyd (MetroTalk, Mon) thinks the latest Budget doesn’t simply ‘reward the rich’? Well, I can tell you I am certainly not rich and it does nothing for me, either. But I will be paying more tax as the threshold has been frozen.
All I see is a Budget to appease chancellor Rachel Reeves’ backbenchers and the public sector.
The welfare state and NHS are bloated beyond recognition and the bill just keeps getting bigger. More money being thrown at both doesn’t solve the issues, it increases them.
Sort those out first and Labour will have plenty of money to waste on other things. Gary, Essex
This reader says the Budget was made to ‘appease Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ backbenchers and the public sector’ (Picture: Getty Images)
Reader says we need ‘a bit of perspective’ on UK taxes
As everyone seems to be talking about how high taxes are, I think we need a bit of perspective.
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Yes, the amount of money we’re paying in tax is getting higher but it’s still proportionately lower than the likes of France, Germany, the Low Countries, Spain, Italy or Greece.
And besides, the countries with traditionally the highest taxes are in Scandinavia and they don’t seem to have any issues with low GDP or talented people leaving.
Yes, our tax-to-GDP ratio (which is a weird way of measuring things anyway) is as high as it has been for decades, but we’ve got to remember that we’re dealing with a lot of global problems at once – wars, Trump tariffs, the climate crisis, the mental health crisis, the aftermath of Covid… I could go on.
We’re also trying to limit immigration, even though immigration is generally good for the economy and helps keep our population young and talented.
On top of all of this, there’s the Liz Truss crash and Brexit – two massive unforced errors that we’ll be feeling the effects of for many years to come.
Modern technology, with its sensationalist doomscroll and instant gratification, has left us constantly dissatisfied and angry. We need to learn to be realistic again. This budget wasn’t perfect by any means, but it wasn’t bad either. Ellie Jaeger, Leighton Buzzard
Reader says we need to question ‘exactly what taxpayer’s money is being spent on’
If we want to get serious about saving taxpayers’ money, we need to dig deeper into exactly what it’s being spent on.
Where I live in Norfolk, we have three big hospitals (NNUH in Norwich, Queen Elizabeth in King’s Lynn and James Paget University Hospital in Great Yarmouth). Together they serve a catchment area of about 1.5million people. Of those, NNUH carries out nearly one million outpatient appointments, day case procedures and inpatient admissions each year. That suggests the equivalent to two-thirds of the local population have been seen at least once in the past 12 months in one hospital alone. That is utterly insane.
Plenty of those people wouldn’t have needed to go to hospital if we had better GP services. That would’ve been much cheaper. Plenty more of those people would never have needed treatment if we had better preventative healthcare, such as teaching them to cook healthy meals – that would’ve been cheaper still.
Myopic spending cuts have wrecked frontline services – as a result, the public sector is now costing a lot more while providing us with a lot less.
If we really want to spend less, we’re going to have to invest in bringing those services back now, in order to have a better system in the long run. Rob Slater, Norfolk
This reader says ‘myopic spending cuts have wrecked frontline services’ (Picture: Getty)
What was the ‘primary reason the fire jumped between buildings’ in Hong Kong fires?
I was distressed by the tragic fire in Hong Kong but I would like to clarify a key point.
Your report (Metro, Fri) headlined ‘3 held as “bamboo scaffold burns down flats” killing 75’ suggests it was the scaffolding that helped the fire spread.
In fact, it’s been shown that the low-quality green nets used around the renovation site melt and spread flames within seconds once ignited.
These nets – not the scaffolding – were the primary reason the fire jumped between buildings. Skinner Yeung, Watford
Does ‘the whole of history hinge’ on Jesus?
Regarding the article ‘25 reasons to be joyful this Christmas’ by Simon Gage (Metro, Thu). Now, I’m as much a sucker for all the Christmas trappings as everyone else – the Christmas TV, mince pies, work dos etc – however, as a Christian, I was interested to see how far I would have to read before we got to the main thing: Jesus.
The answer was 21 out of 25, when Simon reminded us of the carol, ‘O, come let us adore Him’.
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What a great idea – to go to church this Christmas and worship Jesus, on whom the whole of history hinges. Who else can transform our society and offer us meaning and hope this Christmas? Pete, via email
This reader says people need to remember Jesus at Christmas (Picture: GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)
Polly the dog is restoring this reader’s faith in canines
I couldn’t have been happier reading about the Cooke family, whose golden retriever Polly was given a Heart Hero award by the British Heart Foundation for waking up Hannah when husband Adam suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep (Metro, Fri).
I haven’t completely dealt with the PTSD of being bitten by our former dog, Osama, but this kind of story strengthens my belief in perhaps owning another one in the near future. Bonaventure, Maidstone
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
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