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Thanks for your support

I WOULD like to thank all the brave patriotic souls who attended the ‘Brexit Means Exit’ Rally on Saturday, I was overwhelmed with the support with people attending from as far afield as Rotherham.

This was a shot across the bows of the government which made a difference with the passing of the Repeal Bill - our success is evident.

I would like to remind those UKIP voters who turned to Labour in June that this is how Corbyn et al repaid you by going against the democratic voice of the nation.

I have this message to those who voted remain and to those who have taken this referendum personally and still feel very bitter about our exit:

Please stop talking the country down and wishing Brexit to fail just to say “I told you so”. We have an amazing opportunity and we have a fantastic future ahead of us and we must unite and grasp it with both hands.

Leaver voters are not racist, xenophobic, bigoted or indeed stupid.

We voted for our children, our grandchildren, our democracy, our sovereignty, our fisherman, our farmers, our steel industry, our NHS, our schools, our laws, our borders, our economy.

We voted for a greater Britain.

We voted in the nation’s interest and not our own.

We voted with our hearts AND our heads.

We live in the best country in the world. Don’t let the establishment divide us because united we stand strong.

On the 23rd June 2016 we won the battle but the war still rages on.

MARTIN COSTELLO, Eldene, Swindon

Not time for tea

Monday’s Adver reported on a group, joining a pro-Brexit march, describing itself as “pro Trump, pro Brexit and styled on the American Tea Party.”

The “Tea Party” mentioned was the grouping of American Republicans which achieved notoriety through its bigotry. Claiming to be anti-establishment, its structure was maintained by Republican staffers. It allowed a barmier section of Republicans to push the reset button, wiping away their disillusionment with the practical consequences of republicanism without actually having to think about, learn from or break from it.

They opposed spending on health, housing, education etc, while supporting untrammelled big business exploitation of everything and everyone. They rejected not just social advances since the civil rights movement but also all thinking and all advances in society since the enlightenment.

They lost prominence when supporters who gained public office demonstrated rapidly to all that they were embarrassing wingnuts.

This group apparently loves Trump who has stuffed his cabinet with billionaires and launched a war on working people, not to mention repeatedly threatening us all with an even worse sort of war. Trump claims he has created jobs but he compares badly here with the record of, say, Obama. Of course this barely matters because Trump invents his own facts each time he moves his lips. Trump treads the well-worn path, causes chaos in people’s lives and blames the foreigners.

The report doesn’t say whether this group were representative of the march but they certainly fit the tea party bill in believing “six impossible things before breakfast.”

PETER SMITH, Woodside Avenue, Swindon

Join our association

Did you serve on the Grey Funnel Line? The HMS Bulwark, Albion and Centaur Naval Association welcomes personnel who have served any time on the former carriers, R06, R07, R08 and the current Albion and Bulwark, L14 and L15. Membership is currently around 500.

A journal ‘The R08’ is produced three times a year and annual weekend reunions are held at various locations around the country. This year we were at The Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, next year we are at the Lord Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth with the AGM being held onboard the current HMS Bulwark.

The association has active regional reps, we sponsor Sea Cadets from our affiliated units, some members and their wives have regular meetings at local pubs within their area.

Annual Membership is just £10 for full and associate members. Enquires to the Secretary Denis Askham 01226 384283, Membership Secretary Harry Roddis 01709 816667 or webmaster at www.bulwarkassoc.co.uk

HARRY RODDIS, Membership Secretary, Rotherham, South Yorks

Rules for cyclists?

As a youth I rode a bicycle on the road and was taught to take notice and adhere to the signals for car drivers. Now, many years later, I am a car driver and I have noticed that cyclists seem to please themselves regarding rules of the road.

Pedestrian crossings seem to attract cyclists who mount the pavements and press buttons to stop the traffic regardless of whether there are any pedestrians waiting to use the crossing. They also ride on the pavements in shopping areas and, if one should live in a seaside town, one can be run down by cyclists on the promenade.

Car drivers are penalised for disobeying the rules. Are there no rules for cyclists?

MR MOOR, Severn Avenue, Swindon

Arms trade disgrace

For two weeks, until 22 September, the Government will welcome to the Excel Centre in London representatives from companies such as BAE Systems and General Dynamics and countries such as Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The reason they are being welcomed? It’s the start of the UK’s arms trade show where the world’s arms manufacturers will be displaying and selling their weapons of death and destruction to the world’s brutal and ruthless governments.

Welcoming these representatives will be many government ministers, most notably Defence Secretary Michael Fallon who it appears sees no wrong in selling appalling armoury to the world’s most brutal people.

Looking at the Excel Centre website recently, there was no mention of this event being held there. Maybe they’re ashamed to have it on their list of events, but this government has no shame and puts death, destruction and profit before human life.

We are told by the government that the arms export licensing systems has the most stringent rules to abide to. Reading the list of those who have been invited to the grotesque show it’s most evident that these ‘stringent rules’ are meaningless and does nothing to prevent weapons of death and destruction ending up in the hands of the government’s despotic friends. It’s time to end this horrendous event once and for all.

MARTIN WEBB, Swindon Road, Old Town

Bill is the best

Three cheers Bill Williams. His letters are always well written, amusing and brighten up my day.

I don’t always agree with him but admire his wit and rejoice that we live in a country where we are free to express a variety of views without fear of persecution.

May I send him and his wife very best wishes and encourage Bill to continue his letter writing? His views on the EU, or ‘Disunion’ as he calls it, never ceases to make me chuckle.

T MORE, Capesthorne Drive, Haydon Wick

Answers please

I HAVE just seen your leading article on the proposal for the tented market site. I have just one question - where are the ‘exclusive dining venues’ you describe in the town centre? Actually two questions - who seriously believes that 100-odd occupants will have no need of a parking space?

CHRIS BARRY, The Bramptons, Swindon