YET again taxes, in this case rates, are described as a "burden" ("Freeze nurseries' rates or some will go to the wall MSPs warned", The Herald, June 16).
Taxes are the price we pay for living in a society where there is a degree of compassion, where those who can least look after themselves are cared for. Taxes give us education, social care, the emergency services, museums, roads: the list goes on. If these things are a "burden" then maybe taxes should be cut. If we value these things then we should be willing to pay for the greater good.
Although it is too early to tell, the indications, as reported many newspapers, including The Herald, seem to be that some of the recent tragedies, including school walls collapsing and tower block fires, are indirectly caused by low taxation. Local authorities are starved of resources and are forced to shed staff and contract out services. What then suffers is the objective oversight of construction projects that local authorities used to provide.
As a society we need to make the links: taxes buy the things that protect us and make a better society. If these things are a "burden" and we pay less, then the outcome will be more tragedies played out on live television.
Keith Hayton,
89 Busby Road Clarkston Glasgow.
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