I AM tired of being told we need austerity, even mild austerity – eg, by your Comment column (Echo, Oct 6) and by Bernie Walsh (HAS, also Oct 6). “Austerity” is an excuse used by the political right the world over to cut public spending.

The deficit exists partly to deal with the unemployment (a kind of austerity) that results from the credit crunch. To that extent, the idea that we need austerity to deal with the deficit is like saying that dying of cold is a good way of cutting one’s heating bills.

The deficit also exists because Labour tried to buy votes by borrowing to cover government spending, rather than raise taxes.

The solution is simply to reverse the process – ie, raise taxes and pay back the money owed.

No austerity is needed as long as different sections of the population are taxed in proportion to the benefit they derive from the payback. For example, just one of the many points to consider is that the average taxpayer benefits in that they no longer need to fund so much interest on government debt.

Ralph Musgrave, Durham.