Political generation has no humanity

My wife and I are in our seventies and watched in anger, but not disbelief, at the Budget assault on pensioners.

We believe it is simplistic, however, to blame this on the Tories. This is yet another product of a political generation that has no personal hinterland and even less humanity.

Attacking historic institutions such as marriage, the family and life itself has become something of a political and cultural game for this “me” generation.

The twilight of life was always seen as sacred. Now even that has been trampled upon.

In some respects, one is glad to be old. Civilisation itself is under threat.

I am glad I will not be around when the next Holocaust happens.

Alan Clayton

Letters Way

Strachur, Argyll

It seems the coalition government is intent on destroying some of our most cherished institutions. “Husband” and “wife” are destined to be consigned to history, while pensioners will be worse off because of the axeing of the age-related personal income tax allowance brought in by Winston Churchill to ease the burden on the low-income elderly.

With investment income at an all-time low, any measure which hits pensioners’ living standards will be unwelcome, even though it is supposed to “rationalise” the tax system and may affect government support from the “grey vote”.

It will be all the more annoying given the tax money frittered away supporting the eurozone and on foreign aid. The Chancellor should use his grey matter to realise that greys matter.

Bob MacDougall

Kippen

Stirlingshire

The Chancellor, George Osborne, regards tax avoidance as “morally repugnant”. However, he also seems to consider it to be morally acceptable to raid pensioners’ tax allowances in order to subsidise tax cuts for the wealthiest members of our society.

Judging by the smug look on the faces of the Cabinet members in the Commons on Wednesday, I suspect that they all fall into the latter category. We’re all in this together, George? Aye, right!

David Hamill

Preston Road

East Linton

As Bill Jamieson wrote in his Budget reflections (22 March), even those of us who are in favour of a small-state, low-tax economy believe as many people as possible should pay some tax.

Sadly, Margaret Thatcher poisoned the idea of taxation as an essential part of a national sense that “we’re all in it together”. She over- reacted to a grossly irresponsible 1980s Edinburgh City Council of proto-anarchists which even sold the historic city silver to fund their insane schemes. For too many Scots, “free at the point of use” is now synonymous with “free” and a sense of entitlement unites everyone from students to elderly home-owners seeking care.

And Thatcher’s theory that left-wing politicians drive up vote-winning spending if they have a client state which pays nothing was tested to destruction by Gordon Brown.

(Dr) John Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews