Letter: Holiday tip

While much media attention has been focused on David Cameron's failure to tip a waitress in Tuscany, given the current economic situation and climate of austerity, the Prime Minister (who is worth an estimated £30 million) should maybe have taken the opportunity for a less lavish holiday spent in the UK.

It should be remembered, of course, that "we are all in this together" - apparently.

Someone imposing austerity on the old, the young, the disabled, the hard-working or anyone attempting to make ends meet, stating that the pain of deficit adjustment must fall on rich and poor alike, should, in a Churchillian manner of national solidarity, must practice what he preaches rather than spend 5,800 for a couple of weeks of luxury in a Tuscan villa.

Last week the Office for National Statistics gave its quarterly account of the state of Britain's economy.

Growth is at a miniscule 0.2 per cent and in real terms earnings are falling while prices, inexorably, are rising.

Youth unemployment is higher than it has been in two decades and, this winter, fuel costs will begin to kill people while others reconsider their food budgets.

Reflecting the mood of "all being in this together" Prime Minister Cameron should have holidayed in the UK, also serving to boost the domestic tourism sector in its hour of need, rather than jetting off to the Tuscan foothills.

Alex Orr

Leamington Terrace

Edinburgh