CHILD poverty has and will, unfortunately, be an ongoing issue.

Yes, government is accountable, but so are the parents.

As a small limited business owner paying corporation tax, I take exception to the likes of P Murphy, Prestwich, pontificating about what taxes a business should pay.

We are not all the size of BP and Specsavers.

Nurses, firefighters and other public servants made the choice to join the service and were well aware of the demands and perks of the job, not to mention pensions, set annual leave, bank holidays and something called "sick leave".

I doubt very much that they work anywhere near the 70-plus hours of a standard week most business owners and directors work, some struggling to make minimum wage.

Business provides all the the services and back up that the public sector offers and, in many cases, far more efficiently.

Few in the history of mankind have made their riches working a 37-hour week!

We are unpaid tax collectors for the VAT man and to many business owners it seems to be the main reason we work to raise the demanded funds every quarter.

You will be astonished nationally how many business owners have to turn to over-draft facilities, loans and credit cards, even cashing in pensions to pay the demands of the taxman.

But we made the choice to follow our calling so we have to tough it out or call it a day.

So, P Murphy, please be more considerate of us revenue creators to future madcap tried and tested socialist idealism that has yet to work in any corner of the globe!

Incidentally, one of my close relatives deemed to be in the 67 per cent with two children living in poverty and never worked in her life has just passed her driving tested and, unlike me, can afford to book and pay for her summer all-inclusive holiday.

The car is already in the driveway.

P Graham

Bury