Letters: November 16, 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Hurt by lack of exports

STEVE Halden says that austerity is necessary because of the country’s adverse balance of payments (Reverse these policies, Adver, November 11). But the two are not directly related.

The government is spending far more on current account than it receives from taxation, excise duty, tariffs and EU grants. This imbalance arises in part because a good number of the population are in part time and low paid employment. Instead of contributing by way of income tax, many of them receive pay-outs by way of rent allowances and working family tax credits. It seems that in many cases the latter has become nothing more than a subsidy for business. I know of one large employer in town whose whole staffing strategy is built around the thresholds at which employees qualify for family tax credits. These allowances and credits are areas where austerity is being applied. Local government funds have also been cut by some 40% resulting in the decimation of services many have come to rely on and now even threatening the care of our elderly and other vulnerable adults.

Tax increases would, of course, be an alternative solution to austerity or could, at least, be used to “water it down”. But the government seems ideologically opposed to these. More aggressive examination of the inventive accounting practices of international companies such as Amazon could also help. This is something that the EU is currently pressing, but it’s not clear if we are with them on this now.

Meanwhile the deficit on international trade, (the balance of payments), continues to grow. Yes, the government is contributing to this by way, amongst other things, of continuing military adventures in the middle east, patrolling the skies provocatively close to the Russian border and participating in NATO’s massing of 300,000 troops in the Balkans.

But, as Steve says, the main problem is we don’t export enough to pay for our imports. These include not only the obvious like the Cadbury bars now coming from Poland but electricity flowing in from the French nationalised industry through the Channel cable. Ironically, this cable was laid to enable our electricity industry to export energy to the French. That was in the days when ours was nationalised too, long gone now of course. Then there’s rent payments. Yes! If you are renting property in the UK from an overseas landlord then that’s effectively an import. These foreign-owned properties include former council houses first sold under the right to buy scheme. Many are now occupied by families who, in a more sane society, would live in reasonably priced social housing. What really gets up my nose is that, certainly in the southeast, many command rents which entitle the tenants to rent allowances. So we have the government making welfare payments that indirectly contribute to the balance of payments deficit.

Just one last thought. Some of our water companies are also in foreign hands.

So if you live in their areas even the rain that falls on our soil and comes through our taps is an import, because it belongs to another country. Just think about that.

DON REEVE

Horder Mews, Old Town

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Vote pinpointed conflict

THE vote to support Swindon-wide parishing has highlighted the inherent conflict involving the respective principles ‘we know best’ and ‘public consultation’. Whilst acknowledging that many Swindon residents have little or no interest in parishing and its implications, there can be no doubt that those who opposed parishing put forward very persuasive arguments as well as alternative suggestions, borne of a sense of community awareness, knowledge and insight which clearly rose above party politics.

Whilst the Conservatives sought refuge in their narrow majority on the council, such narrow margin of ‘victory’ allied to the significant public response opposed to parishing merely highlights the significance of an ‘opportunity lost’. By this, I mean an opportunity in which the final decision-making process could at least be seen by the majority to have sought a quality of consensus in arriving at the eventual outcome.

PAUL SUNNERS

Chiseldon

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Migration not to blame

IF Steve Halden was a vet he would scold the beef cow for complaining about the tape worm. He says austerity is necessary because of Britain’s trade deficit. Ignoring the mountains of money in corporate bank accounts he intends this as an answer to Jeff Adams’ demolition of one of his previous letters, which was presented as an economic argument opposing immigration. Austerity is actually about, as Adams suggested, all about shifting enormous amounts of wealth away from ordinary people to the very rich. We see services lost, diminished or privatised and growing levels of poverty so the rich can get richer. Halden points to the record level of Britain’s trade deficit, not realising this fatally undermines his argument for austerity.

It is worth revisiting his previous letter. In it we find he has discovered something called GDP. I think for Steve this stands for Gradually Diminishing Pudding. For Steve it is constant rather than variable and humans sit round it dipping our spoons into it; more people means less pudding. But the “P” in GDP stands for product. There is a clue here that it is something produced, actually by people. After the Second World War lots of economic migrants came to Britain. People in the UK did not notice less GD pudding on their forks. In fact GDP grew. Across Europe GDPs grew as migrants entered and produced.

The post-war boom would never have happened without mass immigration. We would have experienced stagnation and poverty. Every serious study shows economic growth correlated with migration. Steve’s half-baked theory is about blaming immigrants for social problems they have nothing to do with.

PETER SMITH

Woodside Avenue, Swindon

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Leaving consequences

COLUMNIST Gill Harris is always a ‘good read’ even if sometimes she goes off piste and makes some outrageous comments. After all, that’s what her column is about – speaking her mind.

However, was it right to refer to the 52% of the voting population who elected to put their cross in the box marked ‘leave the EU’ as jolly japesters and to compound the insult by suggesting they made their decision simply as a ‘bit of a protest? And where does she get the idea that ‘they had a nasty shock when they woke up’?

Almost no ‘leaver’ I know expected the ordinary people to make the ‘wise choice’. Indeed, almost every poll, every expert and almost all politicians were absolutely convinced that Remain would ‘walk it’ and that the UK would cement its position in the world order for evermore.

The ‘nasty shock’ Gill refers to was that experienced by the liberal left and the pro EU lobby which despises the idea of the nation state unless its Scottish, Welsh or Irish nationalism.

Everyone who voted Leave was perfectly aware of what the vote meant. After all, the Remain campaigners, including the government, spent millions of pounds warning the nation in apocalyptic terms what faced the country if we turned our back on the political construct of the EU.

To be fair to Gill I think it safe to say that our ‘friends’ in Europe have demonstrated they are what were sometimes referred to as ‘fair weather friends’ who alter their allegiances subject to the prevailing winds.

As for Donald Trump – for many Americans he was the best of the two-choice race, excluding Harambe (and doesn’t it speak volumes that allegedly 11,000 Americans voted for a gorilla?). American Presidents have always tended to be flawed characters and in the modern 21st century any flaw is magnified and seized upon by a voracious media desperate to be seen to be ‘leading the news’ as opposed to creating it.

Will Mr Trump be a good President? Who knows. We all hope so. But of this I am sure; his predecessor will not be fondly remembered as having achieved a great deal despite his campaign extolling the virtue of change and the slogan “we can do it”.

DES MORGAN

Caraway Drive, Swindon

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Visit would be waste

In your business section, the LibDem leader, Tim Farron, has criticised Liam Fox for not visiting our European partners to start negotiating a trade deal.

Our masters in Brussels have made it clear on numerous occasions that there will be no negotiations until Article 50 is invoked.

So it would be a waste of time visiting our EU partners, wouldn’t it?

Mr Farron has also stated that he would try to block Article 50 being invoked, so again, a waste of time for Mr Fox to visit Europe.

These two statements by Mr Farron shows clearly how arrogant, ill-informed and silly he is.

DAVE DURIE

Fernham Road, Swindon

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Support good cause

SWINDON Guide Dogs 2017 Charity Calendar is now on sale for a great price of just £5, which includes a postal envelope, this is our seventh calendar and all have been very well-received and very successful.

We have over 30 local dogs on the calendar, working guide dogs, guide dog puppies and retired guide dogs.

Calendars are available in some outlets in Swindon, Cricklade, Highworth and Wroughton for information on where the outlets are located, please call Alan Fletcher on 01793827589 or email fletcas@sky.com.

ALAN FLETCHER

Chair

Swindon Guide Dogs for the Blind