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Robert Appleford says in the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families, while Tom Holden feels there is an increasing lack of any sense of privilege. Plus letters from Vicky Mills and Kit Jackson

Jonathan Liew’s article ( Won’t somebody please think of Britain’s poor £2m homeowners? Oh, wait – everyone already is, 2 November ) entirely misses the point that underlies the spate of criticism against the “mansion tax”. While wealth disparity is no doubt an issue that needs to be addressed, this tax is a spiteful assault on hard-working taxpayers who already pay an enormous proportion of their salary to the Treasury to support a woefully mismanaged public sector and welfare state. Those who support the tax seem to be driven by a simple ideology that we need to “bash the rich” to create equality.

In the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families who have made difficult choices and made huge sacrifices to get to where they are. I come from a working-class background, I worked hard at school and achieved good grades, I worked part-time jobs, paid my own way through university and chose a profession that pays well, relocating to London and making sacrifices to earn good money – spending 18 hours a day in the office – and I chose to buy property and invest in it. I did not enjoy annual holidays or a defined-benefit pension that others enjoy.

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Robert Appleford says in the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families, while Tom Holden feels there is an increasing lack of any sense of privilege. Plus letters from Vicky Mills and Kit Jackson

Jonathan Liew’s article ( Won’t somebody please think of Britain’s poor £2m homeowners? Oh, wait – everyone already is, 2 November ) entirely misses the point that underlies the spate of criticism against the “mansion tax”. While wealth disparity is no doubt an issue that needs to be addressed, this tax is a spiteful assault on hard-working taxpayers who already pay an enormous proportion of their salary to the Treasury to support a woefully mismanaged public sector and welfare state. Those who support the tax seem to be driven by a simple ideology that we need to “bash the rich” to create equality.

In the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families who have made difficult choices and made huge sacrifices to get to where they are. I come from a working-class background, I worked hard at school and achieved good grades, I worked part-time jobs, paid my own way through university and chose a profession that pays well, relocating to London and making sacrifices to earn good money – spending 18 hours a day in the office – and I chose to buy property and invest in it. I did not enjoy annual holidays or a defined-benefit pension that others enjoy.

Continue reading...

Robert Appleford says in the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families, while Tom Holden feels there is an increasing lack of any sense of privilege. Plus letters from Vicky Mills and Kit Jackson

Jonathan Liew’s article ( Won’t somebody please think of Britain’s poor £2m homeowners? Oh, wait – everyone already is, 2 November ) entirely misses the point that underlies the spate of criticism against the “mansion tax”. While wealth disparity is no doubt an issue that needs to be addressed, this tax is a spiteful assault on hard-working taxpayers who already pay an enormous proportion of their salary to the Treasury to support a woefully mismanaged public sector and welfare state. Those who support the tax seem to be driven by a simple ideology that we need to “bash the rich” to create equality.

In the real world, this tax penalises hard-working families who have made difficult choices and made huge sacrifices to get to where they are. I come from a working-class background, I worked hard at school and achieved good grades, I worked part-time jobs, paid my own way through university and chose a profession that pays well, relocating to London and making sacrifices to earn good money – spending 18 hours a day in the office – and I chose to buy property and invest in it. I did not enjoy annual holidays or a defined-benefit pension that others enjoy.

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Sister Sophia Rose responds to Emma Beddington’s article on how nuns are having a moment

Thank you to Emma Beddington for her thoughtful column ( Tired of being a woman in 2025? Why not become a nun?, 1 December ). It is always refreshing to see nuns and religious sisters portrayed in a context other than the horror-movie stereotype we seem to have inherited.

I was intrigued by her mention of Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life by Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita. I look forward to reading it and I may well recommend it in our Franciscan newsletter.

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Sister Sophia Rose responds to Emma Beddington’s article on how nuns are having a moment

Thank you to Emma Beddington for her thoughtful column ( Tired of being a woman in 2025? Why not become a nun?, 1 December ). It is always refreshing to see nuns and religious sisters portrayed in a context other than the horror-movie stereotype we seem to have inherited.

I was intrigued by her mention of Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life by Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita. I look forward to reading it and I may well recommend it in our Franciscan newsletter.

Continue reading...

Sister Sophia Rose responds to Emma Beddington’s article on how nuns are having a moment

Thank you to Emma Beddington for her thoughtful column ( Tired of being a woman in 2025? Why not become a nun?, 1 December ). It is always refreshing to see nuns and religious sisters portrayed in a context other than the horror-movie stereotype we seem to have inherited.

I was intrigued by her mention of Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life by Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita. I look forward to reading it and I may well recommend it in our Franciscan newsletter.

Continue reading...