IT IS easy for Paul Wilson (Letters, September 14) to accuse me of dodging the question, but he is less than fair in doing so.

I am a local parish councillor. I am not a government minister. Neither am I a member of the Tory shadow cabinet. Nor am I a member of the Liberal Democrat front bench. I am in exactly the same position as Mr Wilson. I have no idea what any of the parties are going to announce until they announce it. Unlike Mr Wilson, however, I do expect the parties to answer the difficult questions before the general election. They have no choice if they want to be taken seriously by the voters.

I do, however, have my own ideas about what should be done. If taxes have to rise there is a clear moral argument for saying that the banks and the bankers – whose greed got us into the recession – should be the first to pay more. I did not suggest this was all that needed to be done. But it is the right place to start.

Mr Wilson is adept at asking awkward questions. Perhaps he would care to answer one.

Regardless of whether he thinks that more will be needed, or how much, does he agree with me that the banks and the bankers should be the first who are asked to pay more?

(Cllr) CHRIS ROBINS, Foxdown Close, Kidlington