Stopping lives being lost doesn’t make you a killjoy

IT’S hard to believe that someone is objecting to council staff breaking up ice on city ponds. How do they think the relatives of those who have lost their lives recently feel about this?

Frozen water is always a temptation to some to go skating etc but the danger signs are always there: the ice may not be as thick and durable as it seems at first sight.

It’s not being killjoy to try and prevent lives from being lost.

MA

Glasgow

THE strikes on all fronts are crippling the economy and putting people’s lively hoods at risk.

The footfall on our pavements should be bustling and shops bursting at the seems and restaurants overflowing with laughter but silence surrounds the shopping malls as folk can’t get transport.

Even sending someone a gift voucher to spend at this time is impossible due to the post being on strike so it’s time to give Christmas a miss this year and celebrate it when the governments settle pay disputes and end this nightmare facing the Scottish people.

After listening to John Swinney’s budget speech, why work and be poor?

You are better off on benefits and being poor.

It’s a no- brainer. We should just move to the Isle of Bute and be a tax exile. The only way the low paid are going to get on the property ladder is if they are playing a game of Monopoly.

It’s another slap in the face for all working in low- paid jobs and who can’t afford to strike. Stephen Johnstone Glasgow

IT is always amusing to note the claims from certain quarters that higher income tax rates as announced in the recent Budget, will make Scotland a less attractive place to live and work.

There will be an apparent “exodus” of middle- class earners, a “brain drain” of those heading to the brighter uplands south of the border where those earning more than £ 27,580 will pay less income tax than in Scotland.

What this neglects to highlight of course is that income tax is only one element of taxation.

The majority of Scottish council taxpayers, for example, are on average paying £ 590 a year less than they would in England and £ 423 less than in Wales.

Average water charges are also lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK.

Those parties also neglect to mention the free tuition enjoyed by Scottish students, with those south of the border having to pay more than £ 9000 a year. Prescription fees in England are also more than £ 9 per item, while in Scotland they are free.

Let us also not forget betterfunded public services are a key element that makes somewhere an attractive place to live.

Most Scottish taxpayers pay less income tax than their English neighbours, but for those with the broadest shoulders who pay more, let us not forget the likes of lower council tax, lower water charges, free university fees and free bus travel for pensioners and young people.