Letters: June 1, 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Get priorities straight

THE Labour Party claims to have won two extra Swindon Borough Council seats, in the May election, due to residents’ anger over local issues (The Adver, May 24, “Ask the People”).

The main concerns of the electorate were said to be the loss of public control of Lydiard Park and House and the proposed imposition of parish councils.

Council leader David Renard says he does not believe the two issues were major factors at the election.

I believe he may be correct. Undoubtedly, there are residents who have passionate views on issues such as library closures.

If Coun Renard had turned to the letters page, on the same day this report appeared, he might have identified another reason why he and his colleagues are losing public confidence.

Letters from John L Crook, Haydon Wick, Alan Wilson, Shapwick Close and M Wylie, Lomond Close, Sparcells came to the defence of homeowner Gordon Harris.

A report on May 18 said Swindon Borough Council has asked Mr Harris to return the verge outside his property to grass. This comes 16 years after Mr Harris changed it to gravel due to tyre damage and dog fouling.

It is interesting to note the three letter writers who support Mr Harris live at different locations but have had similar bad experiences.

It was pointed out Swindon Borough Council has turned a blind eye to anti-social behaviour.

Destructive and obstructive offenders have been allowed to park on grass verges and pavements. Nobody from the council cares about the damage done or inconvenience caused.

Nor does anybody want to take ownership of these problems.

Untouchable, tax payer-funded council officers sit in their fortress, at the Civic Offices, knowing their lack of action will go unchallenged.

Councillors are too busy to address the everyday mundane issues which affect “Joe Public” because they are preoccupied with the “Grand Visions” of a “Super Swindon.”

Our local authority could easily put a stop to many of our anti-social problems.

Conversely, they have chosen to allow the slobs in our society to determine their agenda.

Those of us who care about the quality of our environment have noticed the decline of standards.

Another local election result similar to the last one will shift the balance of power.

It seems to me, those “in control” at Swindon Borough Council need to re-evaluate their priorities or risk losing control.

K KANE

Wharf Road, Wroughton

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Safeguard the future

I LIVE in a free and fairly prosperous land and I want it to stay that way.

I am still voting to leave on the 23rd.

Been doing some reading on a few reasons why.

Over the past few weeks we have had threats of World War Three, house prices are going to fall, the price of every day living is going to spiral out of control, we will all starve, there will be no fuel we will be back to 1066, we are doomed, doomed I say.

The only ones who are doomed are the idiots sprouting this rubbish.

A few of the reasons the EU is in such a horrible state is because way back in the 1990s Europe started going through a three-phase economic crisis.

Number one is all about sovereign debt, a collapsing currency and, of course, austerity. Europe lost its flexibility in stages of rapid growth.

Helped by the USA the economy grew so fast all benefits for those out of work, or who lost their jobs, was about 90 per cent of their salaries for two years.

Then, as Europe’s population aged, its economy grew slowly, because all Europe was interested in was investing in their stagnating internal market instead of the globalised digital economy.

Let’s take some of the member states in the EU and how they are faring: Italy is a two-tier nation, if you live north of Rome you’re in the rich side, if you live south of Rome you’re poorer than Greece.

Greece is totally skint.

It’s said the Greeks are poorer than people living in Mississippi, which is America’s poorest state.

Then we have Spain, Ireland and Portugal, which are stuck with a Euro whose value is based on their richer and more successful neighbours.

How can a system excite a generation of ambitious young people across the EU when all they can offer them is low paid, short-term work in stagnant industries because they did not invest in the future.

So, on that note dear readers, if you want your kids and future generations to wallow along with Europe, vote to stay in or vote out.

JOHN L CROOK

Haydon Wick, Swindon

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Vote and take a stand

I AM dismayed by the number of people who are so ignorant of the world they live in that they are prepared to take seriously the voices of big business, bankers, economists, security experts, the popular press and politicians, most of whom have self-interest and hidden agendas to promote.

We remember with gratitude the millions of people who lost their lives in war, to defend the freedom of this country.

Thanks to a succession of politicians that freedom, to govern ourselves, has been given away.

I am the first to admit that our system of government is not good but we can vote governments out of office if we find their level of incompetence unacceptable.

Contrast that with unelected EU commissioners whose authority overrides our elected House of Commons and EU law that overrides our own. None of us would have voted for that, and none of us did.

So why perpetuate it if we can vote now to retrieve our sovereignty and dignity?

Each generation is born into a set of circumstances which are generally accepted as the norm. Younger generations are more likely to accept the EU because they have experienced nothing else.

They accept without question the impositions of the EU and our loss of democracy.

However, the EU agenda of increasing authority and control is sufficiently slow and subtle to delude people of all generations.

KD HENDERSON

Arundel Close, Swindon

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Tired of EU situation

NO, MR Hegenbarth I do not support your views on Nigel Farage (The Adver, May 24) and I hope one day Nigel Farage becomes Prime Minister. And Donald Trump president of the USA.

True Brits are fed up of this country paying to be part of the EU and supporting half of the world, all on borrowed money.

I disagree when you state you are “proud to live in a multi-national and multi-ethnic nation and I know the rest of Swindon agrees”.

Well, here’s one Swindon resident who doesn’t share your views. And I hope on “Freedom from Europe” day you have to eat your words.

FRANK GLEED

West View, Swindon

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Debate lacking diversity

I ENTIRELY agree with Alex Hegenbarth’s letter (Proud of our diversity), having met Alex a couple of times in Swindon Town Centre where he has been handing out “remain” leaflets for the upcoming EU referendum.

But what does Alex think of the lack of diversity on both sides of the EU referendum debate?

In recent years we have seen many females elected as MPs, and although we have seen several black and Asians elected into government (but still too few from the B.M.E Community) the most prominent faces I see in this EU campaign are white middle class males. This really doesn’t reflect the multicultural society in which we live.

MARK WEBB

Swindon Road, Old Town, Swindon

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Numbers don’t add up

MR Poole, methinks you are a little wayward with your figures. What about the millions being paid to so-called civil servants? They are ensconced in meaningless jobs in government departments, created to satisfy the edicts issued by Brussels.

As to the EU putting an import levy on goods we send to the EU, we can do the same. This will give the exchequer millions to play with.

It may also encourage UK residents to buy cheaper British made goods.

As to Cameron and Osborne saying that 80,000 jobs would be lost, what they mean is that this will be the number of friends of theirs from public schools, Oxford and Cambridge universities, and the London School of Economics, whom have invaded the Un-civil service in jobs created to satisfy Brussels.

The pair of them have no idea as to how to placate their friends.

Brexit and get rid of these jobs? This will save those born in the last four or five years from having to subsidise their gold plated pensions at a later date through taxes.

TJ LAMBOUIRNE

Royal Wootton Bassett

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Film disappointment

I OPENED my Adver on May 27 to read a very promising review of the film Love And Friendship, based on a short novel by Jane Austen.

Not a frequent cinema-goer, I do like a proper grown-up film, with a decent story, no swearing or killing, and some beautiful scenery and costumes.

So, off I went to the computer to check when it would be screened at one of our three multiplex cinemas.

After a few minutes of searching, I had to accept that yet again I am to be disappointed – Love And Friendship is not coming to Swindon at all.

This has happened to me several times in the past year, and I wondered if other SA readers have similar experiences, and any idea to whom we should appeal to have our town ‘uprated’!

It seems ludicrous that a town of our size can’t justify even one smaller screen for a film with such excellent reviews.

SHELLEY MORGAN

Caraway Drive, Swindon