I MUST reply to Justin Downes's (letters, March 19), "anger that council can waste so much money". What planet is he living on? Presumably he thinks money grows on trees.

Does this attitude not just show the real reason why we are in such a state of financial ruin in this country?

What has happened to the entrepreneurial culture, has it been stifled, or even extinguished by an utter and total dependence on hand-outs and other forms of welfare?

When I grew up most people regarded it as their duty to provide for themselves and their families independent of the state, now it appears that we expect the state (or should I not say, the hard-pressed taxpayer, anyone heard of him/her?) to fork out for holidays and other niceties. During my childhood we endured many hardships including spells of unemployment etc but we usually managed to save for a simple holiday, two weeks per year, nor were we in receipt of the plethora of benef its widely available today.

In fact, family allowance, now child benefit, was paid only after the second child. This was never means-tested so that some households received this benefit irrespective of income, plainly some today would not miss the cash, judging from their apparent lifestyles.

The welfare state was always, and should always be, for providing basic necessities during times of hardship, in other words, a safety net, but plainly some abuse the system to the detriment of others.

It may have escaped Mr Downes' notice that residents in Kensington will receive £50 to alleviate some of the possible hardships that the recession will encompass, and this actually includes those on council tax benefit!

Numerous other concessions are widely available to families, free or reduced public transport, reductions on theatre and cinema admissions, already we enjoy free admission to world class museums, such as the Science and Natural History Museums.

Those facilities are certainly not always available in continental cities, as I have often experienced for myself. The end result of providing more and more 'freebies' is that you destroy the incentive to be independent of the state and become totally dependent.

I Walker Dalgarno Gardens

North Kensington