UNLIKE Ray Holton, I am proud that our Government is helping the people in the Philippines and refugees from Syria.

Most of the tax I pay goes to people I don’t know who are having a tougher time than me. Most of them live in the UK, but I see no reason why this moral responsibility should stop at our borders when the poorest people, through no fault of their own, live in countries where they haven’t had a good education, there is not a free NHS and there are far fewer economic opportunities.

In times of austerity, tax rises and cuts in services should be aimed at those who can afford them. There is plenty of wealth in this country, especially when compared with the Philippines, Jordan (the current home of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees) or any of the other countries where aid from our country goes. I hope the Government shifts the burden of austerity on to the wealthy of this country and not the poorest people overseas.

PETER HENNESSY Hugh Allen Crescent Oxford