RAPID RESPONSES
Freedom in dispute
[Re: UK is wrong to have turned its back on individual freedom, Tuesday]
Individuals have rights, but those rights come with consequences. You have a right to smoke and drive booze and live off fast food. But if you then demand free treatment on the NHS, then the rest of us have to pay for it. It is hardly surprising that a government with such a large budget deficit should try and force government spending costs down. If that results in some heavy handed nannying of people acting stupidly then so be it. Rights won’t count for much in a bankrupt state.
Nick Reid
Smokers pay far more into the NHS than they get back, and in some circumstances are denied treatment because they smoke. Continue the nannying, drive industries out of Britain, and enforce the closure of businesses (like the pubs no longer open because of the smoking ban), and for sure you will very soon reach a bankrupt state.
Pat Nurse
Healthcare isn’t free. The government can provide you with nothing. It has no money. The only money it has comes from taxpayers. Smokers not only pay their fair share of health care, but they also pay ruinous amounts in taxes for their so-called sins. Take responsibility for yourself. Avoid things you don’t like. Don’t patronise any private business that you disagree with. That’s freedom.
Michele Flynn
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TOP TWEETS
Saturation media coverage of Breivik’s reasons is surely giving him everything he dreamt of: recognition and notoriety.
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We need a flat tax. 10 per cent on everything. No allowances, no accountants. Earn £1, pay 10p. Earn £1m, pay £100,000.
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