Masking a problem

Now that the latest edict from the dynamic duo of Messrs. Johnson and Hancock has finally become mandatory – several months too late of course - I wonder whether they (or anyone else perhaps) has considered the impracticality of wearing a mask when wearing hearing aids?

My wife and I have worn masks in shops since the pandemic began (when we were finally allowed out).

However, I have to remove my hearing aids as the mask pulls them off!

This in turn allied to the screens around tills etc makes conversation with cashiers very difficult and sometimes frustrating.

I am, though, more fortunate than some. Imagine the extreme problems for those who are perhaps profoundly deaf.

Rodney J M Wirdnam

Whilestone Way

Freedom of choice

Wear a mask in shops and supermarkets or be fined £100. Am I missing something here?

Is a pub not more crowded than a supermarket?

Bearing in mind supermarkets take a lot more space than our pubs do.

You will now receive a criminal record if you do not comply with this blatant abuse of the freedom of the individuals right to make a choice.

Why has it taken so long to be implemented if it is such a serious health issue? In the meantime deaths from coronavirus are declining on a daily basis.

You will also commit a criminal offence if you are seventy five and can’t afford to pay your TV licence to help Gary’s million pound salary.

In the meantime if you are burgled, the chances of the villains being caught are less likely than finding you have been given a reduction in Swindon Council Tax. Think about that one readers.

Finally, last but not least. Am I the only one who fears for the future of my bloodline ruled by such incompetence by our elected government? I think not.

Bill Williams

Merlin Way

Covingham

Country needs a plan B

Was it only a dozen years ago that there was a global financial crisis? An incoming Tory government embarked on a politically motivated period of austerity with a decade of savage cuts to public services as the Conservatives have always wanted ‘small government’.

Fast forward to tomorrow and we will see local authorities having insufficient money to provide local services due to a decline in income.

The Government may help some balance their books, but the new bottom line will be that local authorities will have to sell any assets, cut services even more and raise taxes. This will result in even smaller government, just what the Conservatives have always wanted but didn’t have the confidence of the ballot box to embark on it.

In Swindon, I suspect, the Borough Council will sell assets, hive off responsibility for non-statutory services to the new parishes and so leave their precept with a simple modest rise to break even.

For the person-in-the-street it will only mean bigger bills for the foreseeable future. Gone are the days when Tory PMs boasted of, ‘never having it so good,’ and to build a million homes.

I have no faith that this current Tory administration will do anything other than rub their hands in glee at their cherished ideals being achieved without them taking the blame or shouldering the responsibility for not having a better plan ‘B’

Bob Pixton

Abney Moor

Liden