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MP’s let us down

DR PARSONS seems to have a strange idea of democracy, perhaps because of his role with the Conservative Party, which has just chosen a Prime Minister with no election at all.

The claim in his letter last week that the majority of the UK population voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum is obviously not true. Just 17.4 million people voted for Brexit out of a population of 65 million, that’s little more than one in four of us. Support for a policy to quit the EU has been drifting away ever since. In the 2017 general election the Conservative government lost 13 seats and its majority in Parliamentary. In the May 2019 European Parliament elections anti-Brexit parties won 40.4% of the vote while parties that wanted to quit the EU reached just 34.9%. In the local elections the Tories, Labour and UKIP lost more than 1500 seats, while the Liberal Democrat and Green parties, both supporters of staying in the EU, gained more than 650 seats. And in the by-election last week this hard Brexit government faced its first real test and lost another MP.

The trend of all these votes is increasingly in favour of those that want to stay in the EU and it’s backed up by opinion polls. In fact a referendum is little more than an opinion poll. It’s a count of views on one subject on one day based on whatever information is, or isn’t, available. Martin Parsons is right when he says that democracy means accepting the result of an election, but it doesn’t mean forever accepting the result of a referendum. If that were the case we should stick by the result in 1975 when more than two thirds voted to remain in the EC, as the EU was then.

Elections to Parliament are the basis of our representative democracy, but it requires that MPs speak on our behalf, not take orders. They are expected to use their time to consider issues and do what they think is best for all their constituents and the country. To maintain that any MP should be held to the letter of their party election manifesto is nonsensical. I doubt whether any MP, let alone any voter, agrees with every single manifesto policy of any party even if they know what they are. Claire Perry may have been elected on a Conservative party platform, but she had already campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum and will have received electoral support in 2017 on that basis.

It’s understandable, if not excusable, that our MP supported Teresa May’s exit deal while she was a member of the Cabinet, but even then she voiced opposition to a disastrous no deal exit. This paper reported back in February that she was part of a group of MPs that threatened to resign unless no-deal was taken off the table.

I believe in our democracy. I believe in voting to select an MP to represent the constituency (although the electoral system leaves a lot to be desired). But I also believe that an MP should follow his or her conscience and do what they feel to be best for the constituency and country, as our democracy demands. By not voting against a no deal Brexit Claire Perry has not done that and has let us all down.

Pete Foster, Devizes

Charities say thanks

FOLLOWING the most successful open garden weekend at Middlewick House, Corsham, (3-4 August 2019), we would like to thank everyone who supported our charities.

The event, in its fifth year, was tremendously popular and we had in excess of 2,000 people attend each day, a substantial increase on the 700 per day we welcomed two years ago.

First of all our thanks go to the residents living near Middlewick House for their kindness and tolerance and to the landowners who allowed people to cross over their land to leave the site.

The gardens are open by kind permission of Nick and Annette Lynton Mason, both valued supporters of our charities, and we thank them for their overwhelming generosity.

Visitors enjoyed strolling through their beautiful gardens, seeing Nick’s collection of cars, their menagerie of animals and browsing the numerous stalls. They also had the opportunity to climb the Wiltshire Outdoor Learning Team’s wall, watch CPR demonstrations as well as tuck into a selection of cakes and food from the barbecue.

Altogether the event raised over £40,000 – a record amount – to be split between our charities.

This vital funding will enable The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust to visit and safeguard 142 homes while for Wiltshire Air Ambulance it will enable us to continue saving lives, as we have been doing so since 1990.

Finally, we thank all those people who volunteered at the event, donated items for sale or raffle prizes and everyone who visited over the weekend.

Collectively your support has benefited charities helping people all over Wiltshire.

Jennie Shaw, Director, The Bobby Van Trust

Barbara Gray, Director of Income Generation and Communications, Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Help must continue

AS A resident of Wiltshire Council, I wanted to bring to readers’ attention an issue that concerns me locally. Our council (like many others across the country) currently has a small pot of funding that provides a safety net for vulnerable families in financial crisis.

These emergency funds – called Local Welfare Assistance Schemes – are a lifeline to those with nowhere else to turn.

However drastic funding cuts in recent years has put councils under huge financial pressure. As a result, I’m concerned that in the next round of budget planning, the funding available for this important scheme could be reduced, or cut completely. This could be disastrous for some of the most vulnerable families and young people in the area.

Research from The Children’s Society shows that on average funding for local welfare provision equates to 0.3% of a council’s total budget. This feels like a relatively small amount of money for something so vitally important to those most vulnerable. I do hope our council will commit to protecting our Local Welfare Assistance Scheme to support families and young people in crisis, as well as calling on the Government to properly fund this type of support in the future.

Roger Field, Garth Close, Chippenham

The changing climate

While L Towe and N Carter (letters, Aug 1) seem to be under the illusion that climate change is being caused by man and consequently we can magically manage it, they do, at least, take issue with the actions of Extinction Rebellion of which there is an active cell in Marlborough.

To find out more about ER, go to Policy Exchange and look under “Publications” for their report titled Extremism Rebellion. ER is spawned from a group called Rising Up! which is the campaigning arm of Compassionate Revolution Ltd and is very well financed with donations, allegedly, from the likes of George Soros. They have a subversive far left agenda of radical anti-capitalist environmentalism; eco-socialism with the object of breaking down established order and liberal democracy and condone the breakdown of the rule of law.

Well, they certainly seemed to achieve the latter with their protests in various towns and cities across the country whereby we witnessed them illegally blocking off roads and stopping people from going about their lawful business with the apparent approval of the police who could be seen to be guarding them! Just what is happening to this country when this happens?

Make no mistake; ER is a cult latching onto a cause which has no basis, even scientific. Unfortunately, they seem to have gained the ear of naive politicians, including our very own Claire Perry who has relinquished her ministerial role to become President of COP26, the next Climate Change jamboree which might be held in Glasgow next year. God help us!

Would somebody like to define what this so-called climate emergency is which Wiltshire Council has voted for by a very narrow margin? Why are they going to waste time and our money on a totally futile exercise?

I would rather see them spending a bit of money on our roads.

If people are going to refer to recent weather events, then they should look to the past. Climate being a totally chaotic system, extreme weather has occurred and will continue to occur anywhere, anytime. So what we have witnessed recently, while certainly unwelcome, is par for the course.

As for this country “leading the way in combatting climate change” we are being led down the road to penury with the ridiculous aim of achieving carbon neutrality while having absolutely no effect on the climate.

We are verging on eco-tyranny. The ultimate aim is to export all our industry, driving it out with hugely uncompetitive electricity charges and carbon taxes leaving us to rely on tourism.

What people need to get into their head is the fact that carbon dioxide is a benign trace gas at 0.04 per cent in the atmosphere.

It is not a pollutant, as often disgracefully purported to be in the media - not least the BBC - but is essential for all life on Earth. As its proportion is increasing, so are improved crop yields and increased vegetation being witnessed across the world.

The more of it, the better!

Rowland Pantling, Broomcroft Road, Pewsey

Respect the result

John Boaler (Letters, August 8) rather imaginatively claims my letter implied that the Prime Minister has no democratic mandate for a no deal Brexit.

In fact, the exact opposite is true. The referendum asked a simple question: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”

It did not say “should we leave if the EU offers us a good deal when we leave?” anymore than it said “should we remain if the EU reduces our £9 billion a year membership costs?!”

What the Conservative manifesto (https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto) Mr Boaler refers to actually said is: “We will get on with the job and take Britain out of the European Union” (p7).

We will try to agree a free trade deal with the EU “We will pursue free trade with European markets, and secure new trade agreements with other countries.” (p36). However, as I pointed out in my 1 August letter – The EU are refusing to even discuss a free trade deal unless Northern Ireland is subjected to the EU single market rules after Brexit and we pay them £39 billion.

The manifesto also clearly recognised that the negotiations would be tough and stated “but we continue to believe that no deal is better than a bad deal for the UK” (p35-36).

In other words, if people voted Conservative then the Conservative manifesto promised we would leave the EU with, or without a deal.

Just in case, anyone missed it, it says that we are leaving the European Union no less than 17 times. That is exactly what the Prime Minister has stated that we must now do.

The suggestions in last week’s letters column that local Conservative MPs should not support this, would be a serious betrayal of local voters.

I appreciate that Euro enthusiasts do not like this. However, the challenge for them is whether or not they are prepared to respect the referendum result, which was the largest democratic vote in UK history.

Dr Martin Parsons, Wick Lane, Devizes

A marginal win

I must say that after reading Doctor, Wiltshire Councillor, Prospective Parliamentary CANDIDATE for the Liberal Democrat party Brian Mathew that he is wasting a valuable talent, he should write fiction novels for a living, such talent shouldn’t be wasted.

On to the real world, the Tories lost the seat to the Liberal Democrat, Plaid and Green Party alliance because in their arrogance they fielded the very man whose recall caused the by-election in the first place.

This seat has been a marginal between the Tories and Lib/Dems for years, given the recent history it was no surprise to see an alliance candidate win it, yet for all the empire building by the undemocratic parties who to reverse the 2016 referendum by all means be they foul or fair.

Yet how big a margin was it? why a mere 1,425 votes against a discredited MP, in fact I’m surprised that Jo Swinson hasn’t called for a rerun of the election as the winner was a minority representing only 43.5 per cent of the electorate and we all know how fond of figures Ms Swinson is.

Another lesson here in this by-election is that if the Tories and Brexit form an alliance for the next election they will be guaranteed a winning majority of 49.5 per cent or more.

The real heavy losers at The Brecon are of course the Labour Party who polled only 50 per cent of the Brexit Party votes and shared bottom place with the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Stuart Eels and John Aubrey Close, Yatton Keynell, Chippenham

Demand not greed

Nigel Carter (Letters, August 8) either didn’t properly read my previous letter, or didn’t understand it.

I wrote about Urchfont’s Neighbourhood Plan, which identified a number of sites with potential for development at some time, with the requirement for 1, 2 or 3-bedroom houses which are reasonably priced, not planning in general.

He’s correct – I don’t know about ‘Spatial Planning Policy’ and ‘Strategic Housing Land Assessment Appraisal’, or any other such jargon terms, and I suspect the vast majority of those not involved in planning also don’t know about these things; why would we?

Demand should dictate what’s built, not greed. And demand in Urchfont is for houses which will allow local people to remain in the place they spent their childhood and where they have family, and those suitable for new young families wishing to live in the Village.

We don’t need properties costing many hundreds of thousands of pounds, which are way above the means of most, and use a disproportionately large amount of the limited land available at any time.

If developers feel they can’t make enough profit building what’s wanted and set-out in OUR Neighbourhood Plan, they shouldn’t buy the land but find somewhere more suited to these big residences.

David Myers, The Orchard, Urchfont

Care for your kidney

Did you know that there are currently 43 people in need of a kidney transplant in Wiltshire whose diet will be restricted due to kidney disease?

It is likely that they will be on fluid restrictions of around just 500ml of liquid a day (including liquid found in foods like sauces and ice cream).

That’s roughly the equivalent of only being able to have a small cup of tea and one can of soft drink for the whole day. In addition, they are likely to have to limit the potassium and phosphate in their diet which means missing out on enjoying foods like chocolate, bananas and tomatoes.

Sadly a lot of the advice given to patients focuses on the foods to avoid but we want to make the kidney diet about all the things kidney patients can eat and to bring enjoyment back into food which is why we’ve launched the Kidney Kitchen.

Research shows that only 57 per cent of the general public in the South West are aware that kidney disease can restrict your diet, and just 42 per cent are aware that having kidney disease can restrict the amount of liquid you can consume every day.

We hope that the Kidney Kitchen will help raise awareness amongst your readers so that everyone living with kidney disease can enjoy healthy and delicious food with their family and friends.

All of the recipes have been developed with the support of renal dieticians and each recipe comes with facts to help those cooking and/or eating the food how the recipes fit into their diet. If you are, or if you know a kidney patient, make sure you check out www.kidneykitchen.org

Paul Bristow, Acting chief executive, Kidney Care UK

Dickens of a mess

Does anyone else mourn the passing of Broadwood Avenue, Corsham?

The lovely canopy of mature trees which welcomed all those travelling along the B3109 into Corsham has been felled, uprooted and desecrated to make way for a housing development by Bellway Homes.

And now, to add insult to injury, this stretch of road is to be closed for THREE MONTHS presumably to facilitate completion of said homes.

People need homes - yes - but why oh why did these trees need to be obliterated? Trees absorb harmful carbon emissions, provide a haven for wildlife and make the world a better place.

‘Dickens Gate’ is surely a misnomer for this estate - Dickens would be turning in his grave!

S.Harding, New Road, Bradford on Avon

Families need help

As a resident of Wiltshire Council, I wanted to bring to readers’ attention an issue that concerns me locally. Our council (like many others across the country) currently has a small pot of funding that provides a safety net for vulnerable families in financial crisis.

These emergency funds – called Local Welfare Assistance Schemes – are a lifeline to those with nowhere else to turn.

However drastic funding cuts in recent years has put councils under huge financial pressure. As a result, I’m concerned that in the next round of budget planning, the funding available for this important scheme could be reduced, or cut completely. This could be disastrous for some of the most vulnerable families and young people in the area.

Research from The Children’s Society shows that on average funding for local welfare provision equates to 0.3 per cent of a council’s total budget. This feels like a relatively small amount of money for something so vitally important to those most vulnerable. I do hope our council will commit to protecting our Local Welfare Assistance Scheme to support families and young people in crisis, as well as calling on the Government to properly fund this type of support in the future.

Robert Miller, The Elms, Holt

Questionable deal

The people of Britain are sleep-walking to the imminent break-up of the United Kingdom.

The dysfunctional government of the last three years is lurching now towards a no-deal Brexit. The unelected PM has little or no majority. The Scottish First Minister has committed herself to another independence referendum if and when there is a Brexit and the Labour Party (according to John McDonnell) would “not get in the way of that”.

With a no deal Brexit, there will be some sort of physical border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland which will, sooner or later, give rise to renewed Troubles or the re-unification of Ireland. The Welsh Assembly might well have something to say on the matter, too.

It would seem common sense that, as we now know so much more than we did three years ago, we must have another referendum which includes the option of revoke Article 50 and stay put in the EU.

The alternative is to deny a thousand years of history and take a very questionable risk with a trade deal with the USA which currently does not appear quite so reliable as we might have thought in a “special” relationship. At least we know where we are in the EU.

Bill Butterworth, Director, Land Research Ltd, Devizes