Council was naive to trust travellers

Sir,

Coun Keith Williams is quite right to bemoan the behaviour of travellers who used Shaw Forest as a dumping ground and left Swindon taxpayers to pay the clean up costs.

However, it demonstrates a naivety on the part of the council that they believed assurances from the group that they would leave the site in good order.

This is not the first time this has happened, and it is unlikely to be the last.

Kind regards

Des Morgan

Caraway Drive

Swindon

Many questions in need of answering

The recent sparring letters between the combatants Cowdry and Morgan brought an image to my mind that is routed back in the hustings of the Brexit vote.

Do I recall seeing a huge red bus, the chariot of one Mr Johnson, and a sign written largely with the implication that the UK would save £350 million per week by leaving the EU?

Well we have left, so I assume the country is now better off by the amount stated above.

Can anybody confirm that my assumption is correct; our two noble MPs perhaps?

Mr Johnson went on to become Prime Minister so his facts must surely have been correct?

And could that money now be used to help those unfortunate enough to be forced to decide between heating and eating?

Neil Maw

Weedon Road

Swindon

Monkeypox warning for next pandemic

Dear Editor,

As Portugal, Spain, the United States, and the UK have now confirmed outbreaks of monkeypox, it’s high time we acknowledged that continuing to mistreat animals risks triggering the next global pandemic.

There has been a tenfold increase in human cases of monkeypox since the 1970s, and a report in February warned that the threat from it should “not be underestimated”.

Snatching animals from their natural homes, confining them to filthy cages in unnaturally close proximity at markets or on farms and eating them will lead to more zoonotic diseases like monkeypox, with unpredictable mutations and potentially deadly outcomes.

Monkeypox was first seen outside Africa in 2003, when it spread to humans from exotic animals exported to be kept as pets.

It can also be caught by eating animals infected with the virus.

Around three-quarters of recently emerged infectious diseases in humans, including SARS, swine flu, and Covid-19, were transferred from other species.

Humans must act fast to prevent the next pandemic – which would bring more death, disease, and disruption to our daily lives – and we can start by leaving animals in peace.

It’s time we all played our part in moving towards a safer future by eating only healthy and nutritious plant-based food.

Sincerely,

Jennifer White

Media and Communications Manager

PETA Foundation