LETTERS Simple, really
Sir: Re the reduction of government bor- rowing, the Government will borrow about £28 billion this year to cover the PSBR deficit. Consideration has been given to ways of reducing this borrowing by reduc- ing government spending. This will be painful. A simpler way to reduce what the Government has to borrow is to remove Mortgage Interest Tax Relief (18 billion a year), Pension Fund Tax Relief (£12 billion a year) and Company Car Relief (£3 billion a year). These reliefs distort the tax regime and allow selected people to avoid large sums of tax, which has to be found by other taxpayers. Also if the Government stopped the road-building programme (which is unpopular) it would save a further £2 bil- lion a year. If all these reliefs were abol- ished, the Government would save £25 bil- lion, leaving it needing to borrow only £3 billion this year. Rupert Pitt
The Parsonage, Itchen Stoke, Alresford, Hampshire
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