You published an analysis of how the budget might affect people’s personal finances (Budget 2024: what it means for you, 30 October), like most other newspapers and the BBC website did. While people want to know how their income might be affected, this analysis takes no account of how we all benefit from improvements in the NHS, including reductions in waiting times, and investment more generally in our public services. Denis Healey used to call this the “social wage”. If I can see a doctor and get treatment quickly, if trains are more reliable, if unsafe school buildings are replaced etc, then my family will be better off even if my disposable income doesn’t rise.
Along with the vast majority of citizens, I cannot afford private healthcare or private education. Another £5 or £10 a week in my pocket would not change this. Only a fool or a populist politician would claim that public services can be improved without raising more revenue from taxation.
John Boaler
Calne, Wiltshire
