Council tax increases pay for services

HAVING recently received my Council Tax demand for the coming year, I notice that both the council and Fire Authority Taxes have been increased by around 3 per cent, which I considered reasonable.

As regards to the Police and Crime Commissioner, the increase is 12 per cent. This budget, over recent years, has always increased by at least twice that of the aforementioned council and Humberside Fire and Rescue. While national Police funding has been reduced over the recent years, a policy that has been reversed recently, unlike budgets for the other Government Departments which continue to be cut.

As the national crime statistics between 1998 and 2014 had fallen by 60 per cent, this may have been behind the Government’s decision to reduce police funding by around 17 per cent, with the consequent reduction of police numbers from 144,000 to today’s 120,000.

I understand that having lost more than 200 officers in the Humberside force over recent years, a new Chief Constable was appointed and went on a recruitment drive and has, or will soon have, more than 350 additional officers at his disposal, paid for out of “reserves”, or spare cash depending on how you look at it.

While people here say there are not enough police on the streets, onlookers at recent incidents have claimed police (nowadays, apparently, more likely to be armed than not) numbers attending were variously described to be anything from “loads” to “swarms”.

These accounts, and those relating to the lack of police, might suggest otherwise.

Hull. AS a regular reader and sometimes contributor to the Hull Daily Mail’s Mailbox, which should now be renamed as the Mary Jackson opinion page, I felt I had to reply to her latest ramblings.

In her latest submission (March 23) she quite boldly states that postbrexit we are likely to live in a less democratic society.

Well the question I would like to ask her, and the rest of her fellow Remoaners, is this: how come you don’t feel that trying to obstruct/ overturn the will of the majority of the population expressed in a democratic referendum is in itself undemocratic?

The referendum asked a straightforward question and that was, did we want to remain within the EU or leave it? No ifs or buts, just in or out and the majority said out.

End of story. If we end up leaving without a deal, then so be it.

Hull.