Our national debt has increased every year

WITHIN a few months our national debt will have reached the figure of £2 trillion.

I doubt though if many people are bothered let alone losing any sleep over this staggering amount. After all it is the government’s problem, so why should we worry?

The national debt has been increasing year after year for a long time. The reason for this is because past and present governments have continually spent more money than raised in taxes.

Governments have learned over the years that this keeps people happy because spending can remain high and taxes low.

As long as we can borrow even more money to service the debt then no problem. We live in an age when the expectation is that if the government needs money then it should be borrowed. We could not have had the Covid-19 lockdown without borrowed money.

What would happen though if we were suddenly no longer able to borrow money? In order to find an extra £60 billion then no doubt austerity would again kick in along with a sharp increase in taxes. Of course if we did not spend £billions sending huge amounts of money to NATO, The EU and Overseas Development Assistance then we would not have to borrow as much as we do. R. goodfellow, Coventry.

Furlough will bring job losses to many

AS we start the long road to normality after this pandemic what will the new normal be like?

It seems as though new treatments are just around the corner and so is a vaccine.

With staff still off on furlough and some enjoying every minute of it unwilling to return as the sun shines, don’t they realise they might not have a job to go back to – that will be the new normal.

J.jones, Coventry.

JUNE 20, 1963: Spon Street, Coventry. The Spon Street building, now almost a skeleton stripped of its fabric, was built as a pair of semi-detached houses, probably in the 14th century. JUNE 20, 1967: A young girl watches the monkeys at Coventry Zoo.