Letter: Strike for justice

I've never been on strike in my life and I've always distrusted trade unions, but I'd like the whole country to join in the proposed stoppage on 30 June. That is not an argument against the proposed cuts which will hit our living standards (the country is broke and we must economise), but there is a lack of honesty in governmental selectivity.

How are we able massively to increase our contributions to the EU and the IMF? We should be slashing these payments by at least 50 per cent and obliging them also to economise.

Why do we give aid to countries so that they can prioritise the development of nuclear weapons and spacecraft over the poverty of great numbers of their populations?

To return to the matter of striking; why do we allocate taxpayers' money to trade unions which should be responsible for their own finances? I read recently that this costs us some 86 million a year, comprising 18m in direct grants and a whopping 68m in officials' salaries.

Politicians' lofty but empty phrases often return to discredit them, and "We're all in this together" is surely the emptiest of all. Britain can survive this bad patch, but only through co-operation between people and government; right now there are too many self-serving divisions.

Robert Dow

Ormiston Road

Tranent

The First Minister claims that he has a resounding mandate to implement SNP policies; reportedly one in four of those eligible voted SNP. According to your report, "Civil servants set for pay strike", (16 June) only one-in-five backed striking. Is that not also a resounding mandate?

John Malcolm

Ochilmount

Bannockburn