As pensioners and others, like Colin Taylor (Citizen 15/01/04) prepare to demonstrate against excessive council tax, and the government threatens to cap further rises, we are reaching a crunch point when hard questions will have to be faced about the funding of public services. The council tax is seriously regressive and unfair for the average pensioner and for the low-paid. To compound this, it is the councils with the less affluent populations that must provide more services and therefore raise more revenue. Councils provide core public services that are a national, not just a local, responsibility. It is high time the government accepted that we shall never have first quality public services without fair taxation, which means higher rates of income tax for middle to high earners, backed by comprehensive co-operation within the EU and beyond to thwart tax avoidance. Britain's total tax revenues, at 37 per cent of GDP, are drastically below the level, at 45 per cent and above, of comparable EU partners, such as France, Belgium, Austria and Sweden. These countries all have much better public services combined with comparable or better real quality of life prosperity.

Gwen Belcher Stroud District Councillor, Gloucestershire Green Party 5 Belmont Road, Stroud