TWO years into the Norman Conquest in 1068, William and Matilda’s son Henry was born in Selby as William laid waste to the north of England.

Henry I introduced polished tally sticks for taxes owed to the king. Notches were made on these sticks to represent the debts and the stick cut in two down its length, the Royal Exchequer keeping one half and the payee the other.

This system lasted for 726 years, progressively falling from favour after the Bank of England was formed in 1694.

When the debt was settled, the two halves with their matching unique wooden grain were reunited (tallied up) and burnt. This later led to the Houses of Parliament burning down in 1834 when obsolete tally sticks were burnt in the ovens there.

The Bank of England was formed using shares and promises backed up by taxpayers’ cash. More money raised by money changers encouraging people into debt to finance wars, etc.

The tone had been set for deliberate financial chaos based on increasing debt providing profit for financiers.

Themselves financed by city financiers, the Tories perpetuate this indulgent system, borrowing more than estimated as the Tories make people and the economy suffer.

T Scaife, Manor Drive, York.