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Kick out cruel Tories

It WOULD appear that we may have a Tory Prime Minister in waiting in Swindon if the information on the internet is correct.

Justin Tomlinson, on joining the Tory Party at Oxford Brookes University doing a business degree placed a bet alongside Tory MP Chris Kelly that he would become prime Minister before the year 2038, and if this were to happen then would pocket £500,000.

However it would now seem that the chances of this happening may have diminished somewhat if the recent fierce condemnation of the Tory Party by the United Nations over its very poor human rights record against the human rights of disabled people is taken in to consideration.

Justin must, of course, take his share of this culpability considering that he was invited after the 2015 Tory General Election win by the then Prime Minister David Cameron to become the Parliamentary Secretary of State For Disabled People at the DWP where he worked alongside the infamous Iain Duncan Smith and later Stefan Crabb that continued the welfare attacks against them.

IDS has since apologised, saying his policies were cruel and he regretted them.

However, looking at the damage that has been done to the disabled with the introduction of ‘fit to work assessments’ the introduction of ‘personal Independence payments’ a capability, points-based payment that replaced disabled living allowance, along with the sanctioning of Job Seekers’ Allowance, nothing seems to have changed since then.

It would appear that Justin was proud of these attacks against disabled people as, while colluding with IDS at the DWP, he has since glorified in the fact that he had helped 365,000 of them to find work.

No doubt this has to do with the withdrawal of benefits by the use of private companies to overrule the diagnosis of disabled people’s conditions by health professionals and, in the name of austerity, deliberately rob them of their benefit rights under the Welfare State.

Finally the crafty ruse used to find a way of doing the disabled out of benefits was to replace Disability Living Allowance which was a rightful payment dependent on the word of a health professional with Personal Independence Payments which is a points-based system that concentrate on a disabled person’s capabilities and not their diagnosed condition.

This has had severe consequences for people with mental health conditions who may not show any signs of physical impairment but none the less are the ones that have lost out the most under this unfair and discriminatory system.

We desperately need a change of government so as these practices that impact so severely against the human rights of disabled people as condemned by the UN can be changed at the earliest opportunity if we are to once again call our nation a civilised and caring one that we can once again all be proud of.

G A WOODWARD, Nelson Street, Swindon

Risky to reverse Brexit

The anti-Brexiters are more confident that they can stop Brexit following Theresa May’s electoral humiliation and the troubled start to the exit negotiations.

What the anti-Brexiters don’t tell you are the consequences of halting Brexit. The assumption that EU membership conditions for the UK would be as they are now, is probably a false one.

If the UK could not unilaterally revoke Article 50 (there are no provisions for this in the Lisbon Treaty) it would then require a vote of the other 27 members of the EU to let us back in.

In the worst case they will demand that we re-apply under Article 49. In either case the EU would extract a high price from the UK.

This will give the EU the perfect opportunity to obtain revenge for the UK wanting total nation sovereignty.

Firstly, they would remove our £5bn rebate; secondly, the right to retain our currency and, thirdly, revoke our exemption from the passport-free Schengen travel zone.

In addition to the above, Jean-Claude Juncker announced aspirations for an EU enlarged super state led by a single president, an EU Defence budget and the imposition of euro-zone taxes.

Along with this he wants to speed up political integration. The British people have never voted for this and in my opinion never would.

The UK would probably have to sign up to all this and much more, without reference to the British electorate.

Returning to the EU is not a cost-free option and is probably more uncertain than leaving, as voted for in our referendum.

E J GERRARD, Chervil Close, Swindon

A plan to fume over

SOME years ago Farnsby Street was found to have a very poor air quality. It was reported in the Adver to have some of the worst emission gases from vehicles in the town.

I can only assume this was because it was a busy main road and it also had car parks.

Now with the planned changes to Fleming Way, which will only see bus usage, Farnsby Street will be used by more vehicles, and will see an increase in vehicle emissions.

A study by the National Centre For Atmospheric Research was held to examine reports of failing air quality in fast growing cities.

It said as well as the usual suspects, the paving over of green areas and taller building projects was to blame.

Surely the proposed 15-floor building that’s to replace the Tented Market is going to make a marked difference to the winds or, should I say the lack of winds which the international study says contributes to the dispersal of noxious gases.

One can live in an apartment and not own a car, but choke on the car fumes while having afternoon tea on the balcony.

Another brilliant bit of planning.

WILLIAM ABRAHAM, Rodbourne, Swindon

More homes needed

IN REPLY to John Stooke (Oct 6) the slide in the pound was started by Mark Carney by reducing interest rates to almost zero, it was not caused by the Brexit vote.

The current desperate shortage of housing has caused inflation to rise in Britain.

House prices are far too high due to that largest population increase since the Second World War.

The young can’t afford to rent or buy and are being failed. We see properties being bought up by buy-to-let landlords who split them up into even smaller spaces to generate as much money as possible. Our own town is slowly turning into a slum under our noses. The law needs to change. However, 70 per cent of MPs are indeed landlords so this is not likely to change anytime soon.

It is fair to say that Britain’s EU membership has contributed to this housing crisis because back in the 1960s we had full employment and cheap housing.

The rise in the popularity of Jeremy Corbyn has led to Moody downgrading Britain’s credit worthiness rating.

Investors are quite rightly fearful that we might see the very same spend, spend, spend economic policies from the Labour Party with their spending ‘like a teenager with a credit card’ approach.

We need to take a fresh look at this issue in order to end the paradox and allow the younger generation to get the good start in life that they deserve, they have been cheated enough by the greed of their elders.

MARTIN COSTELLO, Eldene, Swindon

Appeal over factory

DID you live near the ice cream factory in Ferndale Road in the 50s, 60s or 70s?

The new owner of those buildings has decided to close the alleyway leading from Ferndale Road to the Wiltshire Avenue backs, a car, cycle and pedestrian route that has existed and been used by all since the houses in the area were built.

A group of concerned local people met Swindon Council legal officers who declined to use an injunction to require the owner to remove the gated obstruction.

Instead they insisted the W & C Act of 1981 Schedule 14 be used. That entails collecting evidence of historic usage.

We have done quite well already in preparing the case and we thank John Stooke, a regular contributor to these pages, for his input having been a schoolboy employee of the ice cream factory. The more evidence we have, the better.

Please get in touch with Des Moffatt on 336276 or 07709066707 or email fendessy@yahoo.co.uk.

COUN DES MOFFATT, Rodbourne Cheney, Swindon