But what chance does a 49-year-old man with a background in early music have of a local job from 9.30am to 3pm during school time? I am effectively supporting an unemployed person for nothing. There must be many more like us for whom marriage disguises unemployment and now, since we have no transferable allowances at all, costs the government nothing.
Jane Wess.
It is the huge disparity between British and continental levels of tobacco and alcohol taxes that encourages 'smuggling' - as Britain is part of the single market, smuggling is surely a contradiction in terms. Whatever one thinks of tobacco, the effects of American Prohibition should surely serve as a warning.
Tim Hall.
London.
The latest tax increase will devastate low-income smokers and force more people into dishonestly buying cheap smuggled cigarettes. The Chancellor admits it is a tax he cannot properly collect yet he continues to increase it.
Kenneth Torricke-Barton.
Fair Cigarette Campaign.
It will now cost £644 to fill a 1,000 litre tank in Britain and £340 in Belgium. The excise duty on the largest trucks will be £5,750 in Britain and £496 in France. More 'joined-up' thinking, please.
Elizabeth Mammatt.
London.
