‘The UK’s national debt is total insanity. We need an expert to get us out of this mess’

Drop the debt

Recently the Bank of England announced that the UK’s national debt payment this year would be a staggering £100 billion. This was later amended by another august financial body to a probable £10.4bn/month (nearly 25% more). If we stick with the Bank of England’s figure of ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILLION POUNDS STERLING to be paid to the UK’s creditors, the total insanity rings loud and clear. Think of how many people and institutions have to work to create this colossal sum in taxes and other means. 

To me, the only way the UK can extract itself from this financial nightmare is to appoint someone with serious business understanding and business acumen to look into government spending and see how much is frittered away on unnecessary projects and quangos. Of course, any request for belt-tightening would immediately be interpreted as ‘austerity’, and we all know what a mess one government made of that word and its consequences.

REM

Principles for life

At one point it looked like vegan food and animal-free products were really catching on. Then they kind of died a death. The problem was all the major companies started making their own vegan foods, then interest waned, so all the independent brands were bankrupted by the major food corporations, who simply stopped making them. Now there are nearly no vegan food products in most supermarkets and what there is can often be very expensive. You can still get an odd option or two in a pub or restaurant but most fast food chains have barely any vegan options. 

Everyone seems set on meat and mass plastic use, where if, we as consumers stopped buying plastic and really made the effort to support alternatives to animal-based products, not only would the prices come down, but the demand would increase and we could really make a difference. Why is this important? Well, much more than just animals suffering for our food, there is the very real problem with the CO2 emissions that meat and other products cause.

Going vegan reduces your carbon footprint due to there being less emissions of harmful gas, and less methane from cows. It cuts land use by 75%, reduces deforestation as there is no need to produce animal feed, and decreases the levels of pollution in the water table.

There is also the benefit of turning gardens into allotments. Imagine living like Tom and Barbara and trading eggs for cucumbers, growing your own tomatoes and decreasing our dependence on the huge supermarkets reaping massive wealth by their near monopoly. 

Change the world by removing yourself from it.

Name withheld

Read more:

• Benefits bill pushes government spending on housing to highest level since records began
• Austerity was something we simply could not afford
• Debt advice: These charities and organisations can help you if you’re struggling with debt

The Cliff edge

I had to read the part on Cliff Richard in John Bird’s column several times as I thought I was having a weird dream. This is my take on reality. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the record industry played it safe, by never recording new, exciting music. They flooded the market with Elvis clones – Cliff Richard was one of them.

True change for the good happened when four young men from Liverpool conquered the world with their incredible music. Their names were John, Paul, George and Ringo. They also had moral intelligence, sadly missing by members of the house of Eton-by-the-Thames (the Houses of Parliament).

The 1960s was a great time for the working class, we were taking control over our lives from the ruling-class public school boys. Sadly, this did not last long.

Peter Neale, Chelmsford

Team works

Sam Delaney [Issue 1722] and your vendor Terry Cokeley [Issue 1723] are right about our avid football support being about spending time with friends. Last year I joined Fit Bluebirds and have met a lovely group of fellow fans, both men and women, through weekly circuits classes and small-sided football. 

EFL in the Community offers this free health and wellbeing programme in over 40 clubs across Wales and England. As we all get ready to go again for another season, why not see if your club is taking part?

Richard Lewis, Cardiff

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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