Letter: Coalition cuts are like Blair's 'War on Terror'

Letter: A terror war is being waged against the poor, women and the vulnerable by this coalition Government. It seems to have adopted the shock and awe strategy used against the, mainly defenceless, Iraqis.

Firstly this government creates an imminent emergency with the appropriate villains.

They want to convince us it was the previous Labour administration that caused this financial crisis and they are having to cut 25 per cent of the public budget for our national salvation.

That is not unlike the way the Blair Government stated unequivocally that we were being threatened by weapons of mass destruction that could be launched in 45 minutes and that there was no solution other than total war - shock and awe.

Likewise, our society is being shocked into accepting an ideologically motivated attack to shrink the state, the effect of which is to create widespread poverty; another half a million on the dole and more inequality.

Only £2.5 billion is being demanded from the banks (and they can keep hold of their bonuses) compared with £18 billion from the welfare budget.

The gilded financiers and bankers who refuse to lend to our businesses and for house purchases are getting off scot-free and yet again it seems that their present intransigent actions are one of the reasons why we are heading for another recession and, when this happens, rather than inflating the economy, this administration will impose further disastrous cuts. Thus we will have created another crisis with the ointment that is meant to cure us.

And we never learn by our mistakes - the July 7 British suicide bombers said in their video explanation of their motives, that they committed their crimes because of the ointment we were applying to Afghanistan and Iraq.

There are always other solutions to social and economic problems. Unfortunately politicians will lie to convince us that there are no other options apart from their self-interested ones.

Cllr Patrick McCarthy

Wellington