The economy is tanking, people and especially celebs need to get real with their demands on government

I AM constantly asked to support good causes during commercial breaks on television. Everything from the plethora of health charities to numerous animal charities and all sorts of other charity appeals in between.

There is no doubt that they are all deserving of support and, indeed, some appeals would melt a heart of stone.

Here comes the “but”: if I was to contribute to them, all the amounts they are appealing for, I would need an appeal to sustain myself.

However, as with most people, I’m sure, I consider and prioritise those causes which I feel I can affordably support.

When I watch the relentless news and current affairs programmes on our current crisis, I am bemused at the demands placed on Government for more and more money to be spent, seemingly without any thought of the cost.

It ranges from people lobbying on their own particular platform to millionaire celebrities who seem to think that they must say something on Twitter that morning to show how they feel our pain.

The problem is that, like my limited resource for charity contribution, the country’s resources are not limitless.

It galls me when we’re told this or that will “only” cost £100m or £200m, without thinking that all those millions are soon together a couple of billion pound.

There has to be an acceptance that Government (of whatever shade) has to prioritise what can be spent without bankrupting the country.

The billions that the Government has spent getting us through this crisis will have to be paid back once we (hopefully) return to normality and the celebrities return to their inane Twitter feeds, probably criticising the payback measures that will inevitably come.

RAYMOND HUGHES Ballyclare, Co Antrim