High Peak Liberal Democrats

Dear Sir,

This is one of the most depressing General Elections in my lifetime. Unfortunately we appear to be going back in the 1950s when over 90% of those who went to the Polling Station voted either red or blue.

Why can't all politicians level with us? Come to think of it, why can't we accept that, if we want Scandinavian levels of public services, we aren't going to get them if we are only prepared to pay North American levels of taxation.

A one percent rise on all Income Tax bands would raise around £5.5 billion. As a top up, how about raising Council Tax bands (untouched since they were introduced in the early 1990s) or indeed adding a few extra at the top end? Is that really too much to ask?

Neither the Tories or Labour are being honest with us. The former thinks we are fools, obsessed with the EU and immigration, and the latter is living in cloud cuckoo land if it really thinks that all its pledges can become reality by just soaking the rich.

Thanks to the Lib Dems in coalition, a considerable number of low earners now pay no Income Tax at all. So, the rest of us are more than capable of paying a little more if we really want the kind of menu currently on offer from the only two parties capable of forming a government. As they say; "No gain without some pain"!

Yours,

John Marriott
(Aged 73)