Readers' letters:

May I voice my concerns about the rise in council tax. We own a large hotel in Sandown. Last year we had a rate rebate of £2000.00 and a letter from the council saying we didn't need to pay any more council tax as we had the rebate. They cancelled the DD. Then in 2003 we never even received a rate demand, had a red letter yes, then a letter from the court saying we owed £12,000. When I queried it 3 days later with the council office, they said it was in the hands of the bailiffs and he would be calling in a days time to seize my goods.

We are a hotel bringing trade to the island . We are open 365 days a year, my guests don't use the library or swimming pool, they don't use subsidied public transport but they do expect a clean and tidy hotel. errr that costs me another £1000 per month cos the council don't provide free rubbish clearance for hotels.

I would love to join whatever you have going, so would many hotels on the island who are wondering what the heck we pay rates/council tax for!!!!

Adrian White, Royal Hadleigh Hotel, 23rd Sept. 2003

We read in the County Press and national press recently that £500 is the average wage. However on wages of £16000 p.a. a person still does not qualify for any benefits of any sort, and is earning too much for council tax relief. The marginal rate of tax is horrendous. The level of wages on the Isle of Wight is predominantly in the region I have mentioned.

We have to find a party that will stop wasting money on advisers, spin doctors, consultative committees, partnerships, European funding and so on while refusing to tax workers at punitive marginal rates and tell them there are no pensions for them.

I recommend the following :- Local income tax; Minimum income guarantee for everyone in work, not just those on benefits who are often better off than the workers. People need about £300 a week to live on. Workers on wages such as £16000 p.a. where tax is paid and no benefits are given with this complex tax system end up much poorer than the minimum standard of living, as do many pensioners. Yet these are the people who will go to prison if they don't pay the council tax. The government has to be made to realise reality i.e. that the BA women's strike is just the first of many as the ordinary workers have had enough of being lied to, robbed of pensions and cheated of a fair reward for their labour. The streets are not safe - my son's car has now been broken into three times - each time he loses a no claims bonus and has to pay excesses. No one is ever caught. The workers create Britain's wealth, the government just squanders it. We have to get back to personal responsibility and integrity and it needs to start from the top.

Kind regards

Valerie Ching, 23rd Sept 2003.