13 OCTOBER 1990, Page 31

Politicians must pay

Sir: Mr Michael Samuelson (Letters, 6 October) is surely wrong to think that removing indexation would stop inflation. Like pay rises and price increases, it is merely a symptom, not the cause. It would be far more effective to deduct the annual rate of inflation from the following year's salaries paid to members of parliament and ministers of the crown. I thought we all realised now that governments are re- sponsible for inflation and, it follows, the politicians should suffer first.

Gordon Line

12 Riverside Road, Shoreham by Sea, Sussex