PLEASE keep your letters to 250 words maximum giving your name, address and daytime telephone number - even on emails. Email: letters@swindonadvertiser.co.uk. Write: Swindon Advertiser, 100 Victoria Road, Swindon, SN1 3BE. Phone: 01793 501806.

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters. Please note, the Adver will not be printing letters on local political subjects until after the elections in May.

Corrections on EU facts

SOME will be tempted to make up their mind on the EU referendum on the basis of what its mainstream opponents are saying.

They may want to distance themselves from the racism of much of the tabloid-seeded anti-EU commentary.

Others may read anti-EU letters like that of Terry Hayward in Monday’s Advertiser and feel they can’t be associated with such an inaccurate reading of history.

Terry argued that in 1973 Britain’s economy before joining was “thriving”.

In fact from the 1940s economies across the globe; US, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, etc. multiplied industrial output many times over while Britain lagged badly behind them.

Weighed down by the dominance of financial institutions and a massive weapons budget, Britain’s economy saw inadequate investment.

It doesn’t help Terry’s case that Britain’s decline relative to other developed countries, (visible since the 19th century), actually slowed in the 1970s.

After a short international recession in 1970-71 there was a sharp co-ordinated boom. Inflation reached more than 20 per cent in Terry’s vibrant 1973.

Regardless of the hopelessness of the disgruntled Tory positions on the EU we need to see it as it is. The European Union is dominated by neo-Conservative politics. It insists on Government polices being “business friendly”, championing privatisation and deregulation.

The often mentioned social protections are a fig leaf. Worker rights are won through workers’ struggles. Solidarity with European and other workers isn’t the same as supporting the EU.

PETER SMITH

Woodside Avenue, Swindon

....

Problem with MEPs

A FARMER named Sam was overseeing his herd in a pasture in Hereford when a new BMW advanced toward him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, asked the farmer: “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?”

Sam looks at the man, who obviously is a yuppie, then looks at his grazing animals and says: “Sure, why not?”

The yuppie whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

He then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany...

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored.

He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC-connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

He prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his miniaturised HP LaserJet printer, turns to the farmer and says: “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.”

“That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,” says Sam.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the boot of his car.

Then Sam says to the young man: “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?”

The young man says: “Okay.”

“You’re a Member of the European Parliament,” says Sam.

“Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

“No guessing required.” answered Sam. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked.

“You used millions of pounds worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are. And you don’t know a thing about how people make a living – or about cows, for that matter. This is a herd of sheep.

“Now give me back my dog.”

And that, friends, is what the problem is with the EU.

DAVID HODGSON

Swindon

....

Bring back Churchill

THE quality of British politicians, with few exceptions, has not been good for several decades, and has sunk into deeper mediocrity recently.

The search within the Labour Party, after what was for them, a dismal general election, found unsurprisingly, no prospective candidate among its shadow cabinet ministers to take the reins of the party.

Presumably out of desperation, the toss of a coin, revealed the rather forlorn figure of Jeremy Corbyn as leader, which came to a surprise to so many, including himself apparently.

Admirably, and yet naively, he remains staunchly committed to the theory of socialism or its more ardent form, communism.

Which, unfortunately, does not lend itself to the inherent selfish aspirations and consequential greed, so often prominent in humanity.

On the other side of the political spectrum a new star has risen, Boris Johnson who, conceivably to his many ardent fans may replace David Cameron – a man who has performed more U-turns than a London taxi driver.

Boris is obviously an amiable, popular, charismatic, mumbling, bumbling eccentric.

Had he not entered the political arena he would have found prominence and a successful career as a TV personality.

Should he achieve the position as PM the consequences could well be dramatic. Inevitably he will mingle with foreign counterparts and dignitaries who will undoubtedly find him most amusing and entertaining.

There was a man loved by many, despised by some; a rather unattractive man, short in stature. But then he was born a leader, a giant of a man. Come back Sir Winston, all is forgiven. Your beloved England needs you yet again.

GEORGE HUMPHREYS

Purton

....

We can’t trust Osborne

IN REPLY to the letter from Mr Hegenbarth, can I ask him why the public should trust the word of a man like Mr Osborne, who promised to cut the deficit by 2015, and failed?

He promised to cut the migration numbers down to the low ten thousands and failed.

He has also changed his forecasts twice. If his latest budget is anything to go by, he should go back to running the tea shop.

So it goes on, last week it was the cost of socks going up, this week it’s a money forecast.

He failed in his promise to cut the deficit, so how can he say anything about 2030?

And what about the disclosure that migration will go up, in this time by three million. Who is paying for that?

He seems to think that when the UK leaves the EU, the world will stop for us.

Is he saying all those people in the EU, who now buy our exports, are going to say, no more?

We buy more from them than they do from us, so are you saying they will stop doing that to prove a point?

I think not. Imagine all those French farmers, who are at the moment blocking any wine exports from Spain, saying, we will not trade with the UK.

T REYNOLDS

Wheeler Avenue, Swindon

....

Remember past vows

FOR those who read or heard George Osborne’s warning about leaving the EU, remember his predictions prior to 2010.

His austerity programme would mean that we would suffer but be in the black by 2019.

Since then he has borrowed more, extended his prediction, put more pressure on the poor, countered the Living Wage by increasing the income of his cronies by £100’s in cutting their income tax.

Many of those who are breathing gloom over the chance of leaving were still in nappies when we joined the Common Market.

One would think that this country was still using donkey and carts and we dressed in woad. Do not forget we tried to join earlier but it was met with a “NON” from a general and president whom we harboured throughout the war years, also the time when our lambs and lorries were set on fire while police and government did nothing to stop it.

After the BSE episode the French refused to have our beef in their country, have they paid the fine given to them by the EU yet?

We have been betrayed by double-crossing senior MPs of all parties past and present who think they are God when elected.

As a country we have no services of our own, all have been sold off to foreign buyers.

Would the French allow us to buy into their railway system or the Germans into their postal network?

We were once a proud nation, we are now beholden to all and sundry.

Cameron and Osborne wore the knees of their trousers out grovelling to the Chinese. The paltry concessions that Cameron gained from leaders have not been ratified by the full council so can be easily rescinded.

Make your own mind up about staying or leaving. Nobody can know any full facts.

JH OLIVER

Brooklands Avenue, Swindon

....

PCC aid for abused

WITH the Wiltshire And Swindon Police And Crime Commissioner elections two weeks away, the NSPCC is writing to each candidate to ask them to pledge support for the charity’s It’s Time campaign.

Every year more than half a million children are abused in the UK, the equivalent of two in every primary school classroom.

The majority are unable to access the support and care they desperately need and the NSPCC believes it’s time this changed.

Commissioners will have control over budgets and services which would ensure victims of child abuse get support.

The Prime Minister has prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat – we know therapeutic support can help transform children’s lives.

Through setting it as a priority, the next Police And Crime Commissioner For Wiltshire And Swindon can ensure abused children have access to the timely, evidence-based support they need to overcome their ordeal.

SHARON COPSEY

NSPCC regional head of service for South West England