Clap for MPs instead of subsidising their meals

I think it’s very bad that families are struggling to feed children during school holiday periods.

I’ve just seen a young girl of junior school age on the Television news scratching around in the mud picking up cooking apples so her mother could cook them so they might have stewed apples for breakfast.

Then I open the paper and see that members of parliament who earn £81,976 a year as back benchers are unhappy with the level of subsidising in the bars and eating areas in the houses of commons.

I don’t think that bars and eating outlets in the House of Commons should have any sort of discounted items on sale, especially if it means the reduced prices are being achieved through the tax payer picking up the tab for the difference.

Withdraw money used for subsidising MPs meals and bar drinks and put it towards the food for the children that need it.

Perhaps instead of paying towards MPs meals and drinks bills we could all go out in the street every last Thursday of the month at 8pm and clap for the MPs they’d be made up with that I would think.

Steven Blanchard

Woodstock road

Coleview

Swindon

There's still time for a recovery-boosting deal with Europe

The Prime Minister’s self-imposed deadline to secure a trade deal with Europe has come and gone.

We were all promised a comprehensive deal with Europe – I believe there is still time to deliver that promise.

As the second wave of COVID begins, it’s never been more crucial to reach a recovery-boosting deal with Europe.

Polling by Best for Britain shows over three quarters (78 per cent) of people in the South West of England have already noticed job losses and business closures in their community – something I’ve seen as well.

A recent report by the same organises the countless professions, products and industries, not to mention tourism, will be severely impacted from day one of a no deal exit. To leave the transition period with no plan and no deal would be disastrous in this climate.

Last week also saw the passing of the Agricultural Bill, without the amendments intended to protect our food standards and our farmers.

It was a stark reminder that the best guarantee of our high standards is to trade with an ally who shares them. Abandoning trade with our closest neighbour without a plan in place would compound our already vulnerable position.

This is not an abstract matter of diplomacy and trade – our lives and our livelihoods are on the line.

Let’s pursue a recovery-boosting deal, which lets us work with Europe to recover from COVID and keep our standards high.

Steve Rouse

Wroughton