Dear Editor, In 10 years, the Labour Government has raised taxes in the UK by 65 per cent. Families are being hit by an extra £1.5 billion a week in taxes, which continues to raise year-on-year. Is this why Solihull residents have to finance the council with high local taxes every year?

Direct taxes have soared by 65 per cent since 1997 and millions more people are being caught in Gordon Brown's tax net every year. When will it stop? It will not stop, but continue at a faster rate when the next budget is announced.

In the past year alone, HM Customs and Excise taxes have risen by 11 per cent, or £317 million per week. The increases far outstrip the rise in earnings for families, which are up 34 per cent since Labour came to power in 1997. The Chancellor is trapping more people in his tax net.

Gordon Brown's Government is now pocketing £172 billion in direct taxes - compared with £104 billion 10 years ago. The Labour Government is taxing the UK to death.

Also, Gordon Brown's obsession of spending without reform has led to a vast amount of waste. It is hard-working families who are paying the price. There are 880,000 more civil servants than 10 years ago that will retire at 60 years old on indexed pensions, in contrast to private sector workers who retire at 65 years old, if they are not made redundant before that age with no pensions. Why are we taxpayers financing these civil servants' very high pensions? Just look at Solihull council's pension deficit.

In 1997, Britons were paying £69 billion in income tax, but this figure is now £133 billion under Labour power. Stamp duty has tripled in that time, from £2.4 billion to £7.5 billion. Also, inheritance tax has soared from £1.5 billion to £2.5 billion today.

In April 2009, it is predicated that local council tax will rise by a minimum of seven per cent; this is over three times the rate of inflation. Why do we, the taxpayers have to pay very high amounts? It is due to waste, index-linked pensions, absenteeism, over staffing; there are so many areas where savings could be made.

What will Solihull MBC charge for our rates? I hear 10 per cent minimum for 2010.

This Labour Government is taxing the UK to death at the expense of us the UK taxpayer. When will it stop?

COLIN THOMPSON

Shirley

State pension

Dear Editor, After enduring years of mounting financial hardship pensioners insist on a rise of £40 per week on the basic state pension in order to lift two million pensioners out of poverty.

Why has this not happened when there is a surplus in the NI Fund of £68 billion?

Pensioners consider that this Labour Government have betrayed us badly.

JOHN MELLOR

Wolverhampton

Cost of calls to public services

Dear Editor, I appreciate the sentiments behind MP Rob Marris's criticism of expensive telephone numbers to call public services (Post, January 31). However, the article singled out the IPCC's use of an 0845 number for calling our telephone complaints centre.

We make nothing from the calls to 0845 3 002 002 and the number was chosen four years ago so that complainants in areas, such as the Midlands, would not have to pay the national rate for phone calls. I agree that it is annoying when 0870 and other similar numbers charge 8p per minute to call essential services or private companies.

I appreciate that many callers now pay an all inclusive tariff for calls and therefore it may now be cheaper to call on our 0207 166 3000 number.

JANE FURNISS

Chief Executive, Independent

Police Complaints Commission