Broken promises

FOR me, and I am sure I am not alone, there is a big problem with all the candidates who appeared on the TV debate. All of them make promises that they cannot keep and all of them fail to address the fundamental issue facing the country: how to put public spending on a sustainable basis.

The only party which comes close to presiding over a sustainable future is the Tories, but even they are making unsustainable promises. They all promise ever increasing sums on the NHS without ever asking if paying for health care entirely from taxation is in fact sustainable in the long term. No country in the world – not even the supposed socialist paradise of Sweden, funds healthcare, or indeed education – entirely from taxation.

At every election since 1945 politicians have promised that government should do more – but there is never enough money and never will be. Meanwhile, the basic functions of government – like infrastructure and defence – get squeezed relentlessly, no matter which party is in power.

It is downright dishonest to promise increased public spending, as all of the opposition left wing parties do, without saying how it will be paid for.

At least most people in England can see this and English marginals will swing to the Tories or Lib Dems to avoid the prospect of the SNP pushing Labour into more unsustainable public spending.

BRIAN CARSON

Belmont Gardens

Edinburgh