ALTHOUGH the Government’s public spending plans have yet to be announced speculation is rife and I think much of the recent commentary is accurate.

We have to make savings, but it is the level or severity of the cuts that is worrying.

If we look at the global picture, austerity measures have drawn some countries into chaos, division and near anarchy.

The recent scenes in Ecuador might be seen as extreme and associated with years of instability in that country’s economy. However, they serve as a reminder that when cuts affect the police and armed forces, it puts life on a knife-edge.

No one is saying yet what cuts there will be to our Armed Forces and police, but front-line services will go and this presents concerns because of the crucial role they play.

Uncertainty is never a happy place because we need to be sure these cuts will enable us to recover. If you cut jobs and services then all of those things that go with income and necessary dependence have to be met elsewhere in social and financial cost.

In short, problems don’t go away just because you cut the budget. They appear in increased crime figures, hospital admissions and instances of family breakdown.

Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe, Durham.