The fabric of our society is slowly disappearing

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

Austerity, Brexit, and totally inept political leadership are the root cause of this crisis (EPA)

As I try to take in the news that my city council, Birmingham, has declared itself bankrupt, I find myself wondering yet again where our country is headed. I suppose I did expect, being in my 75th year, that I would be reflecting on the disappearance of “the world that I had known” but what we are now seeing far exceeds such nostalgic reflection.

Figures over the last seven years in the UK show that hundreds of GP practices and pharmacies have permanently closed and over 2,000 dentists have left the NHS in the last year. We have lost 8,000 bus routes and high streets are disappearing store by store.

Nearly half of high street banks and building societies have closed since 2015 and now hundreds of our school buildings are closed as they may be too dangerous to use.