Sirs,
Mr Mackinnon's letter (24th Jan) couldn't be further from the truth. Apparently he chooses to ignore the fact that Labour fully supported the £35bn of cuts proposed by the Westminster Government on 13th January 2015. During Harriet Harman's stint as stand in leader she told Labour MP's to vote for a cut to child tax credits as it was a popular vote catcher.
During the whole of Ed Miliband's time as leader, the Labour Party fully supported the austerity programme. Despite the hot air from Jeremy Corbyn, he has constantly failed to convince his MP's to oppose Tory austerity. Does anybody know what Labours core policies are? The party is at variance on most major policies.
Mr Mackinnon proposes a 1% tax increase. This is Labour's answer to any economic situation to the detriment of the low paid. It wouldn't be too bad if they meant an increase of 1% in income tax; inevitably their 1% grows as they add 2% for this and a further 1% for that. I won't mention Gordon Brown's removal of the 10% income tax band. Don't forget under the Holyrood Labour administration, council tax rose by 70% while wages grew at a fraction of this. This unfair tax saw the poorest carry the burden. The list of Labour failing the most vulnerable is endless.
We shouldn't forget it was Labour who created this economic mess with their banking policies. The wealthy were the only ones to benefit and still continue to gain with big fat bonuses while we have to do without.
I would suggest Mr Mackinnon checks the Westminster library where he will find that the only party to continually oppose these unfair austerity cuts is the SNP, while Labour have been the Tories biggest supporter.
Archie Harper
27 Shulishader
Isle of Lewis
HS2 0PU
Letter: Labour are the "Tories biggest supporters"
25 January 2016