The ultimate Conservative failure is the demise of Britain’s work ethic

SIR – How is it possible that a family solely dependent on benefits can be better off than someone earning £70,000 a year – more than twice the average wage (report, telegraph.co.uk, January 31)? This is an absurd situation, and it is driving those who pay most tax to despair.

The benefits system should be a safety net for those who fall on hard times or are unable to work through no fault of their own. It should help prevent poverty and destitution. It should not provide for a better lifestyle than that of someone who works and contributes to the system.

Is it any wonder that long-term unemployment and sickness are at record levels, while our economy stagnates? It is yet further proof that the Conservative Party no longer stands for conservative policies. Andrew Holgate

Wilmslow, Cheshire

SIR – No country could possibly afford our hugely expensive free health service and absurdly generous welfare scheme. These leviathans gobble up the bulk of government spending, starving all other public services, such as defence and education.

Trying to balance the books without unthinkable tax rises can never happen unless and until these two monsters are tamed (“IMF warns tax cuts are unaffordable as ministers urge Hunt to be bold”, report, January 31). Andrew Bremer London SE21

SIR – We are £2.7trillion in debt. How can Jeremy Hunt possibly think about tax cuts?

Keith Jacques

Stafford

SIR – How can the Government plan policymaking when the predictions from the Office for Budget Responsibility are often so wildly inaccurate? Simon Bird

Penn, Buckinghamshire

SIR – Rather than worrying about how to redistribute in tax relief the few billions of pounds acquired through fiscal drag and lower interest rates on the national debt, the Conservatives should ring-fence this money for the specific purpose of fixing Britain’s potholes.

A minister should be put in charge and he or she should ensure the potholes are fixed properly and not just filled in until the next frost arrives.

Hard-pressed car owners would be delighted, and the money saved by the councils could be put towards fulfilling their statutory requirements, such as care for the elderly and the mental health of the young.

Voters who say they prefer their money to go on services rather than tax cuts (such as inheritance tax relief) would see something happening throughout the country – and feel that Rishi Sunak is at last doing something to fix broken Britain.

John DP Wiser Linby, Nottinghamshire