SIR - In April 2013, then Chancellor George Osborne decided to cut the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p. During the last five years, there were between 15,000 and 17,000 taxpayers in the UK with annual incomes above £1 million. The result of Mr Osborne's tax giveaway to the most wealthy has been estimated as an £8.6 billion loss to the treasury. And, this means that each of those 'super-earners' have paid, on average, £554,000 less tax over that five-year period.

But, whilst the richest wondered what to do with their 'windfall', public services have certainly felt the pinch. This £8.6 billion COULD have been spent on 20,000 extra nurses, 10,000 extra police officers and 20,000 newly-qualified teachers. Or, wouldn't it have been great to have completely avoided the social care crisis altogether? This could have been achieved by spending £1.7 billion on it every year over the last five years. Politics is mainly about interests and choices. In 2013, this was one choice the Conservative-led coalition made that many of us now may have cause to regret.

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose