Poor comparison

A FEW times a year, I visit small towns in the Czech Republic and northern Italy, both countries struggling with financial issues,

However, both do have bus services seven days a week, empty litter bins, well-tended verges, clean streets and public toilets, libraries, a policeman or two on the beat, pothole-free roads and children’s centres, arts and leisure facilities run by the local council.

My home town, which is an hour from London, is shortly to lose most of its bus services, children services and arts centre. Our roads are potholed, the grass verges are overgrown, the litter bins overflow, the library is under threat and you would be lucky to see a policeman or find a public toilet.

Yet, I live in a country that has the fifth largest national economy, measured by nominal GDP, and ninth largest in the world, measured by purchasing power parity.

PETER RIDDING, Banbury, oxon.