The top 1% of the richest people in Britain are getting richer, while there is an ever increasing number of households becoming poorer.

Such levels of inequality haven’t been experienced in this country for over 40 years.

Andrew McKie is wrong when he talks about the failure of the UK’s nationalised industries (“Protestors aiming their fire at the wrong targets”, The Herald, October 24). Many of them were very profitable and that is the reason they were sold off. As a result, profits created from these once-state-owned assets are no longer returned to the Treasury to benefit the country as a whole, but instead go into the bank accounts of private investors.

Shareholders are now the number one priority for these organisations, many of which are in the business of providing what could be classed as basic human needs such as heating and lighting. Service to society is no longer the driving force, hence the ever increasing burden on the poorer sectors of the population. To highlight the unfairness of it all, tents have been set up near the London Stock Exchange by the very people whom Andrew McKie describes as muppets.

Ian Allan,

46 Prestonfield, Milngavie.

Andrew McKie tells us that the top 1% of richest people contribute almost one quarter of our taxes.

He forgets to remind us that this is because they take more than a quarter of the nations wealth.

Given that the grossly wealthy are the most adept at avoiding taxes it stands to reason that more equably distributed wealth would lead to greater tax income for the country and a better standard of living for all.

John Jamieson,

7 Monument Road,

Ayr.