The row about how to manage the rising government deficit (New UK spending row as Rishi Sunak puts squeeze on public sector salaries, 20 November) seems to be ignoring an important change in the options that are available now that the UK has left the EU. First, our government no longer needs to comply with the general restriction imposed by the EU on the size of government deficits. More importantly, it is no longer illegal for our central bank to directly fund government spending. This is prohibited for EU members. It is now possible to fund the deficit by creating money. Our central bank created money to buy assets (quantitative easing). Now it can create money to fund government spending. The only constraint on government spending is inflation. As long as our economy is depressed, there is little risk of that.
Anton van der Merwe
Oxford
• An alternative comparison for deciding public sector pay would be to peg it to the income of consultants and PR firms employed by the government during the last six months. Or possibly that of politicians with hedge funds in blind trusts.
Angela Barton
Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire
