Letters: February 16, 2017

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

Don’t be surprised

WHY would anyone be surprised at the underhand manner in which Swindon’s Conservative administration has ‘finessed’ the amount of Council Tax being charged in 2017/18? The fact that they are forcing ‘parishing’ this year is more to do with the fact there is no borough council election as opposed to the need to raise money for a budget deficit. After all they could ‘raid the reserves’ to meet any shortfall.

In order to sweeten the bitter pill of what is involved to create the new parishes it was to be expected that the administration would fudge a deal and that is exactly what they have done.

The non parished rate paid by ‘non parished areas’ should not have been ‘spread across the borough’ to include areas which were already parished. It is surely clear to everyone that such an action is an act of supreme injustice. How can Coun Renard justify double taxation for areas such as Haydon Wick, Stratton, Wroughton and others. Coun Mary Martin, who is no fool, must have known what was planned but during public meetings kept remarkably quiet about what she and her colleagues were about to foist on an unsuspecting Swindon public.

As for Coun Holland, of whom it has been rumoured one day hopes to lead the Conservative group, his casual aside of “there’s not a lot I can say” is a cop out for someone who has the intellectual capacity to be a member of the Bar.

Swindon councillors should hang their heads in shame at the lack of moral fibre demonstrated by this meretricious and tawdry act which will hopefully be remembered by the electorate in May 2018, although I am sure Coun Renard and his colleagues will think this little matter will have passed into history.

DES MORGAN

Caraway Drive

Swindon

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Ignorant point of view

I WOULD like to thank Mr Smith for his comments about my remarks concerning the lack of border controls which allowed 850,000 migrants into our country last year.

I suppose he would also have been in favour of allowing Barack Obama signing an Executive Order when nearing the end of his term of office pardoning and giving amnesty to 1.5 million unregistered illegals which was not passed by the Supreme Court, the very same illegals and criminals who are hailed as victims in the current marches around the cities of the USA.

I suppose he also condemned Bill Clinton’s 1995 replica policy which mirrored the Trump investiture speech. So who are the hypocrites?

Mr Smith is entitled to have an opinion, so he needs to speak for himself without nit-picking. It is nothing short of ignorance.

IAN HUNT

Hill View Road

Swindon

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The future is bleak

FOLLOWING last Saturday’s defeat at Bury, Swindon Town have finally dropped into the bottom four in League One. How we’ve survived outside for so long is beyond me as this is, in my opinion, the poorest side we’ve had in years.

Lee Power may be balancing the books and I congratulate him for that. But it’s come with a massive consequence to the football club.

At any level of football you need experience. Players who have been there, seen it and done it. We don’t have that under this regime. This season we’ve used in excess of 33 players. Three whole teams in 31 games. It’s farcical. Our current league position reflects the lack of depth of experienced players on contract topped up with numerous loanees.

If this is the “Swindon Way” then Lee Power will be remembered as the owner who took us back to the old 4th Division. And if it continues, then it’s highly likely we could well be heading in the direction of the National Conference League.

And that does not bear thinking about.

ALAN WILSON

Shapwick Close

Nythe

Swindon

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Where is everyone?

I HAD to make a necessary trip into the town centre last Tuesday at dinner time, the first in months. I gave up my regular enjoyable visits to the town centre with my wife, years ago. Am I alone in that decision? It was so quiet and empty it shocked me. There was one lone trader at the Regent Street junction which leads you to the Brunel statue. Of all things selling vegetables.

What has happened to that vibrant walk way, Regent Street? It is now soulless and devoid of human activity and friendly banter. I also noted at the top of Regent Street, even a charity shop has closed.

Perhaps the town centre matches the criteria and personalities of the council’s highly paid Grand Poo Baas at taxpayers expense agenda.Who made this ridiculous politically correct decision without discussing it with the people who pay their wages? Not to mention the consequences of their actions regarding footfall in the town centre which encourages people to spend money, the only way any business will survive.

If my memory is correct, David Murray John ran a better show in the seventies as a council clerk on expenses, than all this lot put together.

BILL WILLIAMS

Merlin Way

Covingham

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NHS needs funding

RIGHTLY, the Adver has recently published a number of letters calling for defence of the NHS. Kate Linnegar notified people of the London #our NHS demonstration on March 4th, for which there is transport from Swindon. Last Saturday 1,000 joined a “Save our NHS demonstration” in Newcastle.

David Collins was right to suggest the problem was underfunding. Increasing privatisation also drains resources from health care. To win proper funding and democratic planning of health care will require a large, powerful, united movement of workers in and potential users of the health service, so I would like to take up one dead end in David Collins’s letter. He is wrong to argue immigrants have overburdened the health service. It wouldn’t function without the immigrants who work in it.

Also immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take out, helping to pay for the NHS. Moreover, immigrants use the health service less proportionately than the population on average. The immigrant red herring is about diverting attention, blaming those who are not responsible, to side-step opposition. The same is true of the health tourism myth.

PETER SMITH

Swindon

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Bishops are two-faced

BISHOPS of the Church of England recently stated that they were repentant for the grave way the Church had shown homophobic attitudes in the past. In their next breath they affirmed that the C of E would continue to deny gay couples the honour of marriage within the Church. No wonder non-Christians see the Church as hypocritical and worthless.

Even many Christians who are not gay are ashamed of a Church which preaches love but fails miserably to fully love everyone no matter what their sexuality may be. If people of colour or race were treated in the same prejudicial way that the Church treats gay people there would be an outcry from the pews. Yet it is unlikely that this report and issue will even be discussed by congregations, the clergy quietly sweeping them under a very thick carpet.

Nowhere in the Gospels does Christ mention, let alone condemn, gay people. However his second commandment clearly requires us to love our neighbour in exactly the same way we would seek to be love. Yet Christians wrote a new commandment to even take precedence and over-ride that command by Christ. It appears to be “thou shalt despise those who are gay”.

It originates from ancient Israelite religious law, in the Bible, which also permits summary execution by stoning, slavery, male domination, arranged forced marriage etc - a regime similar to that of ISIS in Syria.

It is also difficult to deny that this un-Christlike doctrine of many churches is the source of homophobic prejudice and abuse in society at large.

The question to be asked is will the Church ever show equal compassion and the love of Christ to all men and women regardless of their sexuality? Until it does many will doubt its integrity when it preaches about love and who is your neighbour.

ALAN SCOTFORD, Chippenham