Instead of cutting tax, fund our public services

We shouldn’t be surprised that the Tories boast about their smoke-and-mirrors tax cuts ( Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement tax cuts fuel talk of spring election, 22 November ), and the response of Labour has been depressingly predictable. Rachel Reeves correctly states that “taxes will be higher at the next election than the last”, but then suggests Labour will be the real party of lower taxes. Neither party is willing to confront the obvious fact that lower tax revenue will leave our collapsing public services in an even more precarious state.

Labour should argue for a more progressive incremental system of income tax, where the wealthiest contribute much more in real terms than the poorest. You can’t have functioning welfare, health and care systems if you continually pursue lower taxes instead of a fairer system of taxation.
Dr Chris Morris
Kidderminster, Worcestershire

George Monbiot’s analysis of wasted public expenditure since the time of Margaret Thatcher, coupled with his guide to sources of necessary future public investment ( Britain is broken. What will fix it? Lots and lots of money, 22 November ), should be used by the Labour party as the preface to its next election manifesto. It would add something sadly that is lacking from many of the party’s utterances: hope. It would also serve as a useful rejoinder to all those pundits whose kneejerk reaction to announcements of Labour spending is to ask: “But where’s the money coming from?” They know now.
Robert Parkhill

According to your autumn statement calculator , we will be £854 worse off. I thought I was going to be bribed, and planned to take the money and run, then vote Labour. Is this any way to treat pensioners?
Ken Baldry

“Levelling up” is such a clever slogan – in two words it promises “jam tomorrow” for the masses plus a “don’t worry, we won’t touch you” for the well-off . But what our stagnant economy really needs is levelling down: for the poor to have a bit more, the rest must have a bit less.
Tim Shelton-Jones
Brighton, East Sussex

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