Letter: Shropshire Star

Our taxes should be spent on England

The Shropshire Star is now running almost daily stories highlighting the plight of those unfortunate English women who are denied Herceptin.

There are stories of fundraising events and kind donations but the actual cause and solution for the Herceptin problem never seems to get a mention.

Herceptin is available even for the early stages of breast cancer in Scotland and Wales, but not in England. The reason (jiven by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) for denying this drug is that it is too expensive.

So why can Scottish and Welsh women get Herceptin? Scotland and Wales are funded from the UK Treasury using the Barnett Formula which provides for an annual subsidy from English taxes to make up the difference between the amount of tax they pay and the amount they spend.

England will never be able to afford the same level of service as Scotland and Wales while Scottish and Welsh MPs are controlling the English health service.

An English parliament spending English taxes on English people is what these women need, not sympathy.

Ask your MP what they are going to do to stop the British government discriminating against you.

Stuart Parr
Telford