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I won’t vote for MP

WHY I DID not know Justin Tomlinson, the former was the Minister for the Disabled, So now I wonder why did he decline to support my appeal for help in an issue against the council (by the way, By the way I am disabled)?

I can only think that he and the council are pals and don’t question anything that could rock the boat.

My carer read about his domestic publicity and said he wouldn’t be a Member of Parliament long. Following what was in today’s Advertiser (July 18), he was right. Justin Tomlinson may remain MP for North Swindon but he won’t get my vote again. It’s obvious Mrs May does not want anything to upset her first ministry in office.

NAME SUPPLIED

Pinehurst

Swindon

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Bird-brained response

THE failure to send an ambulance to help an injured cyclist (AdvertiserSA, 21 July 21) is another example of the deterioration in the NHS and is extremely worrying.

Either by coincidence or a thoughtful piece of sub-editing, the adjacent story was a report of an attempted rescue by the fire service of a feral pigeon which was found to have already died.

The fire service spokesperson was quoted as saying that they will always respond to such incidents if the public dial 999.

The rescue of animals in distress, when appropriate, is an important and necessary service but feral pigeons would come a long way down my priority list. Would common management of all the emergency services help get the priorities right?

PETER GALLAGHER

Folkestone Road

Swindon

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Need for inquiry

A CRITICAL REPORT in the Swindon Advertiser (February 17) 2016 explained that waste management firm Swindon Skips, went into liquidation the previous year leaving piles of rubbish at its site on the Cheney Manor Industrial Estate.

As the owner of the land, Swindon Borough Council became responsible for cleaning up the site which the Environment Agency estimated would cost £2m. An external auditor, commissioned by the Audit Committee, found that the council needs to take a more proactive approach to finding out what is taking place on land it owns.

Any managerial accountability for this problem wasn’t referred to. We were not informed whether any disciplinary action was taken or whether any Swindon Borough Council managers lost any performance-related pay.

On July 20 another damning report, “Town’s waste depot is in a right old mess”, appeared in the Swindon Advertiser.

This time an ex-workerhas made allegations of safety lapses and spiralling costs at Swindon’s household waste facility in Cheney Manor.

The site is run by Public Power Solutions (PPS) Ltd, which is wholly owned by Swindon Borough Council.

The council’s ownership is intended to reduce the cost of waste disposal across the borough while generating additional commercial income for the benefit of the town’s residents.

Apparently, the reality of the situation is completely different. There are allegations which include, damage caused by negligence and improper operator procedures, insufficient operator training on high-value equipment and a lack of suitably qualified electrical engineers.

It is estimated, at the current rate, financial waste for this year will be almost £700,000.

The same day as this report appeared I turned to page 5 and read “Taxing times for residents in debt”. A representative from the Money Advice Trust charity raised concerns about people in Swindon who are struggling to pay their council tax. These people were advised to contact the National Debtline or a local agency such as Citizens Advice.

Many residents know that trying to get Swindon Borough Council to carry out even the simplest of tasks can be an impossibility. The council’s reason for lack of action is usually blamed on diminishing funds.

Recently, the majority of our councillors agreed to and approved increases to their allowances at well above the level of inflation.

The allegations made by the whistleblower are too serious to ignore. The public, especially those who are struggling to pay their bills, have a right to expect accountability and value for money.

Councillors who put themselves forward for public service and take allowances from the public purse have a duty to ensure that this happens.

It is not acceptable to keep the public in the dark when severe service failures and serious allegations occur. The public must be able to have confidence in operations at the Cheney Manor site. I believe this can only be assured by having an open and independent inquiry.

MR K KANE

Wharf Road

Wroughton

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Hitting students

AS A further kick in the teeth to students and education in general it was announced today that university fees are set to rise yet again by an extra £250 on top of the already extortionate £9,000 per year.

It should be remembered that education was free before to students via the government university grants system until Tony Blair, when PM, decided that he would like to abolish this in accordance with his love for all things American and introduce the fee system in its place.

The Tories lost no time in cajoling the Liberal democrat leader Nick Clegg while in coalition with them to do their dirty work and hoist the cost to an unbelievable £9,000 per year.

This in itself was a disgraceful enough act for Blair to carry out but there were just as bad things around the corner, which were the introduction of private finance initiatives to build NHS hospitals which up until that time had been taxpayer-funded and, as now, lead to much of the crisis in the NHS as the loans need to be paid back to firms privateers on a yearly basis at inflated interest rates.

Then followed the US-inspired illegal Iraq war, which could have been avoided, and which not only cost this country dearly financially, but also cost countless number of lives in Iraq and those of many of our servicemen and woman who that took part.

Jeremy Corbyn was recently placed in the position post-Chilcot of having to apologise sincerely for the misdemeanours of the Labour Party under Blair, while saying that something similar should never be allowed to happen again.

It is surely no coincidence that under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and his pledge to bring about a less brutal, fairer and more homogeneous and less divided society is what is attracting young people in droves to become party members or supporters of him.

And, of course, add to this that he has also pledged that if elected to Prime Minister, he will abolish the university fee system and return to the previous system of grants, and thus remove the millstone of debt from around the necks of many young people.

I was staggered while watching BBC Points West last night in seeing the current Tory “brutal regime” in action. A lady cancer sufferer who had lost a leg and was now confined to a wheelchair had had her benefit switched to the new Personal Independents Payment, or PIP, system, with the result being that she received much less money and was no longer able to pay for the use of her car. It had all but left her isolated in her own home.

The same programme reported from Bath about the recent increase in people sleeping rough in the city as they could not afford the ever spiralling cost of housing, including and that of renting.

The fellow from a charity that was being interviewed concerning the issue had it put to him that many of the people concerned were bogus scroungers and beggars and not homeless at all.

But he immediately rebuked this by saying that he knew each of them personally and only one of them was known to him as being a bogus opportunist who had since been moved on.

The same brutal regime sees fit to sanction benefits for the unemployed at job centres and drive them into debt, while having to seek help from food banks.

People are being forced to accept menial low-paid jobs, many of which are on zero-hour contracts one. Is this the brutal and uncaring sort of existence that our young people should aspire to in the 5th richest country on the planet?

GA WOODWARD

Nelson Street

Swindon