It’s all about helping those in most need

PAST Labour Council candidate Shaun Shute was rather discriminatory in his letter of May 4. I have been taken to his comments in the run-up to the 2020 General Election when his letters were noted as being a ‘considerable assistance’ to the Conservative candidate who was then promptly elected. He had been advised to stop ‘shuteing himself in the foot’ apparently.

Anyway, if he bothered to read what was said rather than portray the sadly atypical heavily oldfashioned unionised, left-wing mantra, he would have seen that my letter shared opportunities to help those in most need and to help avoiding others falling into the same traps. Doesn’t he agree with that principle?

He talks about illegal tax evasion and aggressive avoidance – both of which I abhor and which happen far less than he really imagines (and no, you can’t tax those super rich who don’t live in the UK oddly enough, so don’t also drive our biggest national tax-payers away in the process – ask M. Hollande of France what happened when he ratcheted-up the highest tax rates – to London’s great benefit!).

To help him, if you ‘subscribe to Netflix’ and as a consequence of your profligacy in having what you cannot afford, so that you cannot put food on the table or pay your rent, who is to blame?

In terms of pensioners, he should listen to those who know the facts

– of course there will be some poor ones and the inflationary spiral will have an impact on all of us but pensioners today are the wealthiest they have ever been. Indeed, I expect the benefits from a generous salary-related pension and the state pension apply to him too (or will do) so is he being greedy?

And yes, finally, if I can help people with their finances so that whatever they have goes further than it does now, I see that as success and real practical help to them, poor or rich – clearly he doesn’t.

Philip J Milton Trimstone, North Devon