Readers' letters: Tax cutting is no help to the economy

As the Tory candidates quarrel over the scale of tax cuts which are required to rescue our economy, we need to consider why the obsession with tax cuts does not help the economy or the country.

Tax cuts (corporation or income tax) benefit the better off. They have been tried before without big growth dividends.

Cutting billions tends to force a government to restore austerity, which definitely (in the past decade), failed to grow our economy or maintain our services and infrastructure.

Listen to industries and what they say they need for growth to take place. They need good infrastructure and services. They need well paid workers who can afford to buy their goods. They need well-trained workers. They need plentiful labour. They need sensible environmental policies.

They need stability. The obsession with tax cuts and the dash for growth gamble just creates the constant change and flux which industries don't need.

And a strong-arming approach to Brexit just puts Tory voters before the needs of the country.

How can we get inward investment when we stand ready to break the protocol and risk retaliation from the EU? How can we hope to get a trade deal with the USA when we endanger the peace process in Ireland? How can we get growth going when we restrict the supply of EU workers?

A tax-cutting approach just risks the stability and environmental solutions which this country needs.

Andrew Vass, Edinburgh.

IMF policy warning over slow growth

As the Conservative Party leadership hopefuls engage in a grotesque bunfight out to see who can offer the highest tax cuts, it was pleasing to note the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warn that this would be a mistake.

The IMF is among the groups predicting the UK could see the slowest growth and most painful inflation of any G7 nation in 2023 thanks, in part, to reliance on fossil fuels, a big driver of inflation.

In comparison, the poorest households in France are now 25 per cent better off than their UK counterparts, with the latter experiencing widening inequalities, meaning that UK households have been left less resilient to cope with the current cost of living shock. The UK's challenges are very deep-rooted, with economic growth lagging behind many competitors since the 2007 financial crisis.

Our longer-term underperformance reflects a chronic lack of investment in skills and infrastructure and as a consequence we're a low wage, low productivity, low growth economy, fraught with political infighting.

Private sector investment has also languished and post the 2016 EU referendum business investment fell dramatically. It remains 10 per cent below the 2015 peak, leading to a less efficient economy - and so poor wage growth.

Taxation would be better channelled into projects that focus on sustained long-term economic prosperity, rather than fighting over who can lower these the furthest.

Whoever moves into Number 10, we are at a crossroads as to how the UK’s future is shaped.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh.

Political pygmies

The line-up of potential candidates to be Tory leader and PM would be hilarious if it wasn’t so serious.

I disagreed with most of Margaret Thatcher’s policies but no one could deny she was fiercely intelligent, had a vision and surrounded herself with political big beasts. She must be spinning in her grave at the thought of any of the current clueless individuals becoming a Prime Minister.

D Mitchell, Edinburgh.

Write to the Edinburgh Evening News

We welcome your thoughts. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.

Subscribe

Subscribe at www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions