SIR – After the recent problems, no-one is surprised that the head of Northern Ireland Water, Laurence MacKenzie, has resigned.

However, the crisis there has unearthed yet another example of serious discrimination by the UK Government against the beleaguered tax payers of England.

Unlike in England and Wales, water provision for Northern Ireland was never privatised and is run by a nationalised company – aka the tax payers.

This costs hundreds of millions of pounds a year in subsidies from Westminster, to provide virtually-free water and sewage services in Northern Ireland, with householders and businesses there paying only about £80 each per year.

With the average consumer round here paying about £450 each year to Yorkshire Water, and rising, this situation is of great concern. And, of course, a similar situation exists in Scotland.

Why our Government is concealing all these costs from the people of England and Wales is a question that needs to be answered – soon.

D S Boyes, Rodley Lane, Leeds