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Nurses £3k worse off

IT’S not often that nursing staff working on the frontline in our hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes feel the need to get involved in politics.

We get on with doing the job we were trained to do. Many of us cannot imagine doing anything else.

But we now find ourselves in a situation that can no longer be tolerated.

Since 2010, pay freezes and the one per cent cap on public sector pay increases have left NHS nursing staff at least £3,000 worse off as salaries fall by 14 per cent in real terms.

Their families are paying the price. Some are forced to take on second jobs and even use foodbanks.

At the same time, nurses and healthcare assistants across the south west are having to cope with health services which have never been so busy, with staff spread thinly due to 40,000 unfilled nursing jobs across England.

A Royal College of Nursing survey of members last month showed that nine in 10 would support industrial action if the pay cap is not scrapped.

Many nurses are now getting involved in a “summer of protest” to give the Prime Minister a final chance to remove the cap before a formal legal ballot on action later in the year.

Your readers may well see us as we undertake this activity and we hope they will support our aims.

Without nursing staff, the NHS would not survive. Without our members going the extra mile every day, working beyond their shifts and missing meal breaks, patients would not get the care they need and deserve.

Please support our campaign and call for the Government to #scrapthecap so we can continue to be there for the patients who need us now and in the future.

VICKY BROTHERTON and LORS ALFORD, RCN South West Council Members

More cash for the NHS

HAS the issue of non doms off hore accounts and the taxation of the big conglomerates been kicked into the long grass?

It could help the NHS if they were asked to pay their taxes.

ROY SMALL, Haydon Wick, Swindon

Election had no winner

IN RESPONSE to David Collins’ letter, while I agree that having Corbyn in charge would be catastrophic, the Conservative victory felt only like having the best of a bad bunch and our nation deserves better.

I would like to thank all of those who were bold and brave to vote UKIP recently.

It was always going to be an uphill struggle in a two-horse race particularly given that the party has been a victim of its own success.

I completely understand why other voters would have been frightened into voting the way they did.

However, we will never see any real change unless people hold their nerve and vote with their heart – not for tactical reasons.

Those voting for UKIP were voting to cap the council tax rises that we will see forced upon us over the next few years and voted against the establishment who continue to bully people in all aspects of society.

We are offering something different to those fed up with mainstream politics.

There were no winners in this election and it now feels like we are sailing on a rudderless ship.

I long for the day when the economy will be run like a family’s finances, equality rules in our society and common sense prevails.

On a personal level the whole experience was a real eye-opener and has made me more determined to fight for my fellow Swindonians and highlight the issues that blight our lives.

Thank you all for the support and kind messages I have received.

MARTIN COSTELLO, Islandsmead, Eldene, Swindon

There are money trees

BARRY Woodham is wrong, (There is no magic tree, SA June 22), to my knowledge there are many magic money trees. You just have to know where to look.

For example, the construction industry has several. They are called “land banks.”

House builders routinely make in excess of 20 per cent clear profit on all their developments, including those cynically described as “affordable housing”, simply by controlling the release of land.

Then there are the UK rail franchises, many of which are now in the hands of foreign state-owned railways.

The sky-high ticket prices our rail users endure help to subsidise rail fares in these foreign countries.

The Government, too, must believe it has access to a magic tree otherwise why would it plan to spend billions replacing a nuclear missile system that has never been fired in anger?

I am one of those who believe that this money might be better spent on a decent care system for our elderly.

DON REEVE, Horder Mews, Old Town, Swindon

Here’s a new game

I HAVE seldom in my lifetime, in the early stages of my 75th year felt such despair at the state my beloved country is in at the moment.

However on a lighter note, which we all need to cheer us up, do you remember the game called pass the parcel? Well it has now come back again with a more modern scenario.

It is called pass the old pound coin. I have no idea of the date of the demise of this soon obsolete coinage but as soon as I get one amonghe shiny new ones I pass it on as soon as possible.

At the first opportunity in the pubs and shops I frequent the employees play the same game and back it comes - although it’s obviously not the same one.

Now I have found a mathematical method of reprisal and I make sure that I pay with enough change to escape this dilemma.

Sadly in my local tonight after a few beers I woke up with another one in my pocket, it will be changed tomorrow when I buy my daily newspaper.

BILL WILLIAMS, Merlin Way, Covingham, Swindon

PM must be kept safe

THERE are lots of people making comments about the fact that Theresa May has not visited the residents of Grenfell Tower.

The way I see it, she is being held solely responsible for the problems. I feel that there is more to it than that, but I do wonder if she should put herself in a position whereby she is liable to face so much hatred and aggression, that her personal safety is jeopardised.

I can sympathise greatly with the survivors but one can see the aggression involved when they invaded the council offices.

If there was a structured approach then I am sure Theresa May would meet and talk to the residents.

Of course that is a view which I expect will be subjected to some form of castigation, but maybe I see things differently.

CHRIS GLEED, Proud Close, Purton

TV is bad example

I HATE EastEnders. I hate Coronation Street. I hate Emmerdale. I can’t stand any dumb sitcom. But I’ve noticed this: The most popular ones have nasty, chavvy violent families screaming and shouting at each other every time I accidentally flick through the channels and catch a brief moment by mistake.

Their situations are unbelievable. Their speech is unbelievable. Their actions are unbelievable. Yet we wonder why each generation becomes more abusive, more confrontational and more uneducated.

They learn things and are taught things by these moronic shows and their characters.

ROGER LACK, Swindon

In praise of gardens

I WOULD just like to thank all those lovely folk in West Swindon who opened their magical, atmospheric gardens with all proceeds in support of the charities SMASH - Swindon Youth Mentoring and CALM - Cancer and Leukaemia Movement - which certainly gave us inspiration for our own garden.

This is the first year we have visited - special mention of Ben, the lovable retriever, and the two delightful little girls who gave me a conducted tour around their wonderful garden; also many thanks for the delicious home-made cakes.

We only managed to visit seven gardens but next year will try to visit them all.

ELAINE DRURY, Beverley, Swindon

I was disappointed

I WAS really looking forward to the Swindon from the archives supplement on Friday.

However, I was deeply disappointed with the result. None of the pages were readable - the printing was atrocious. Only some of the headlines were legible.

Surely there should have been some sort of check before the issues were sent out?

It just spoiled what should have been an interesting read.

If further issues are forthcoming please upgrade the quality of the printing.

CHRIS HUMPHREYS, Fuller Close, Upper Stratton