Western Daily Press. . . Letters/Features

MANY WONDERS FOUND IN WEST

The opinion column of the Western Daily Press on May 29 claimed: “The West Country is blessed with stunning historical landmarks.”

And I’m sure that it is. You go on to write about people coming from far and wide to see Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast which, like Bath with its hot springs, Roman Baths, splendid abbey and Georgian crescents, are in the West.

You also referred to the Cornish and West Devon mining landscape, which is in the Westcountry (one word), as opposed to the West.

Nowhere did you mention any historical landmarks in the West Country (two words), which is Cumberland and Westmorland.

Robert Craig, Somerset

Westmorland, is an inland county, bounded on the NW and the N by Cumberland, on the NE by Durham, on the E and the SE by Yorkshire, and on the S and the SW by Lancashire. Its outline is irregular. Its boundaries, to a considerable extent and at intervals, are formed by Windermere, Ulleswater, and the rivers Eamont and Lune. . FUNNY! . I thought they were all up in the North West towards Carlisle and the Solway Firth Robert! . . Well what do I know? . . They must have moved Editor.

Of course he might just be a bit confused because the west country (adj.) mining landscape in West Devon and Cornwall is in the West Country.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . News!!!

An elderly woman has taken on her local authority about the threatening and rude wording it uses on official forms.

MARGARET TELLS THEM… POLITELY

Margaret Marsh, from Combe Down, Bath, wrote to the chief executive of Bath and North East Somerset Council to complain about the aggressive way it phrased a demand for information about her entitlement to a reduction in council tax. And her public-spirited act may force a rethink on behalf of the council which promptly wrote back to say it would review the form.

Mrs Marsh was outraged when she received the Single Status review form, which entitled her to a 25 per cent reduction in council tax because she lived alone.

She said: “I just felt the form demanded information from me in such an abrasive and rude way and I was really annoyed about it. . cond. .

Margaret Marsh is obviously a lady after my own heart. . She has had just about enough of people who seem to have all forgotten who it is who pays their wages. . She is obviously tired of being treated like ‘letter fodder’ for ‘the word processor generation’ of civil servants and those from the privatised ’service’ industries. . Now there’s another misnomer! . . . . Wouldn’t it be really wonderful also if we could rely on all the ‘authorities’ to use their same ‘authoritarian attitude’ and act promptly to remove any illegal travellers camps or illegal ‘constructions’ these people erect on green field sites making other’s lives a misery. . Roll on the Revolution!

And who on earth called it a DISCOUNT! . A SINGLE PERSON ONLY USES ‘SINGLE’ COUNCIL SERVICES. . This is the very reason that the so called ‘Poll Tax’ was a far fairer idea before Government Bureaucracy escalated the originally conceived amount.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . Features/Letters

I was intrigued by your story about David Cameron supporting his hunt pal, “Police will prosecute Cameron’s hunt pal” (Western Daily Press, May 20).

We all know about his compassionate nature and how he wants us all to hug a hoodie.

Now he appears to have extended his wish to having us all hug a hunter.

So, now you know what law and order Tory-style means! Vote for it at your peril!

B Andrews, Somerset

Hoodies only exist because of the insidious creep of CCTV spy cameras into every aspect of our daily lives with criminal behaviour only worsening and, Hunters have only been criminalised because of the insidious creep of the almost Anti-Semitic and ‘McCarthy like’ persecution of a law-abiding minority by this Government. . . Perhaps all those with similar feelings to B.Andrews should be arrested for inciting ‘HATE CRIME’ Editor. . Many of them seem to write daily to this newspaper to do so.

Charles Henry

FARMERS MUST PLAY BY THE RULES OVER TESTING FOR TB

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters>

“In response to Gill Purser’s letter (Your Say, April 15), she obviously knows absolutely nothing about the true facts about testing cattle for TB.

Firstly, the farmer has no say in when a test is carried out; that is down to Defra.

Secondly, to have a test every 12 months if you are in a hotspot area is unusual. We are in a hotspot area and have suffered with TB for some 10 years, so we know the true facts with regard to testing.

Our cattle are tested every 60 days, as are everyone else’s in the same situation.". cond. Name and Address supplied.

The reply:

In response to “Name and address supplied” suggesting that I do not know the facts about TB testing (Your Say, May 22), I would point out that a glance at my farm cattle register shows a very high throughput of cattle in our beef unit, all in a TB hotspot, since 1989.

I could not have managed this business over this length of time without a thorough knowledge of the rules governing TB testing. I was entirely accurate with my statement that the minimum statutory requirement for TB testing is once every 12 months in a TB hotspot. This applies in practice to any farm which remains clear of TB and which does not want to move any cattle outside of the 60-day period following the statutory test, during which time cattle can be moved without further testing.

Testing every 60 days is triggered by the need to move cattle from a holding on a more frequent basis and any other additional tests will be in response to cattle which have reacted positively for TB which obviously triggers further testing.

I am more than sympathetic to the frustration of farmers locked up by TB, as I fully understand the horrors of movement restrictions, having been in the business throughout the BSE crisis and the two FMD debacles.

But this is no excuse for them to lash out in a fit of pique at either me or, worse still, the defenceless badger.

Gill Purser Cheltenham

I used to know a traffic warden like Gill Purser. She knew all the rules but really had no idea how it impacted on business. . It turned out she used to be a bus driver before she got married, but she really wanted to be a Police Woman(man). . We must be politically correct mustn’t we!

Charles Henry

SELLING BATH A PIG IN A POKE

So the pigs have landed, well and truly, in Bath. I mean, “Art off and trotting” (Western Daily Press, May 20), something to do with a hammy idea dreamed up by an ex-B &NES councillor, it appears.

No public corner of Bath seems safe from the “Invasion of the Porkers". They might look pretty in their multi-colours. Some may even regard them as an innocent bit of fun, with a beneficial end product, ie, when eventually they are auctioned off, all monies are to be donated to the Two Tunnels project.And (apparently) no taxpayers’ money has been spent on them. Well, there’s a first.

The frivolity of Bath playing host to a herd of pigs might have been excusable if the council masterminding the scheme had any credibility to rely on, or any laurels to rest on, but it hasn’t.

You won’t have to look far to find filthy, graffiti-strewn public toilets, buildings in prominent locations shoddily maintained and crumbling, “to let” signs in abundance.

And what petty distraction do B &NES come up with in the face of all this to attempt to put a shiny gloss over the dirt? Why, a posse of plastic pigs, that’s what.

Sadly, for all the grip on the reality of life in 21st-century Bath that the present administration are showing in this sorry little vignette, the models on display might just as well assume the shape of dinosaurs.

Keith Davis, Bath

This is a very well written piece Editor. . I congratulate Keith Davis on his acuity and yourself for bringing it to us on this depressingly normal late Spring Bank holiday, presumably to lift our spirits.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . Features/Letters

When, if ever, will the county of Avon disappear off our postal addresses? It is more than 10 years since the demise of Avon.

I blame the Post Office. It refuses to change its data, where firms get their addresses from. The Post Office says the county isn’t important, it is the postcode that matters, but they are wrong.

Firms still put the county on as well as the postal codes, so it is important.

We were sent 44 address labels from the Red Cross, along with the statuary biro and begging letter.

The address labels, even if we had wanted them, we won’t use, as they all had Avon on them.

It didn’t take long for the Post Office to get rid of the old county of Somerset when Avon came into being, so why are we still having to put up with Avon in our everyday life after all these years?

It isn’t rocket science to alter its database.

Helen Capel, Winscombe

I couldn’t agree more Helen Capel Editor! . Even ‘Google Maps’ have been ‘infected’ by this ‘Political Virus’. . We should all try and find a way to get this ‘New-Labour’ Infection totally removed once and for all. . It’s almost as bad as C.Dif and MRSA! . And it is still infecting our Ambulance, Police and Fire Service!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . News

FAMILIES’ FURY AT MOD’S NIMROD ‘INSULT’

The brother of a serviceman killed along with 14 others when a Nimrod spyplane exploded in mid-air, said it was an insult the Government had decided not to ground the entire fleet.

Assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire Andrew Walker yesterday recommended every aircraft in the fleet, based at RAF Kinloss in Forres, Scotland, be grounded immediately until they were safe to fly. . . cond.

Published 27th. May 2008

In defence of the Government, now clearly under ’siege’. I do not believe a decision to ground the entire Nimrod fleet should be in the remit of the coroner, or indeed any coroner. . Their expertise and remit is presumably investigative, medical and legal. . . We surely pay teams of highly skilled technical experts working with air crew to oversee air safety and air worthiness. . The coroners ‘recommendation’ that the entire fleet be grounded will serve only to undermine the relationship of trust all air crew must have with the engineers who look after their aircraft. . It was this sort of ‘knee jerk’ reaction in the face of grieving relatives that led to the premature ending of the life of the world’s most beautiful and exciting aircraft, CONCORDE.

Charles Henry

AVON’S BEEN GONE 10 YEARS

When, if ever, will the county of Avon disappear off our postal addresses? It is more than 10 years since the demise of Avon.

I blame the Post Office. It refuses to change its data, where firms get their addresses from.The Post Office says the county isn’t important, it is the postcode that matters, but they are wrong. .cond. .

Helen Capel Winscombe

I couldn’t agree more Helen Capel Editor! . Even ‘Google Maps’ have been ‘infected’ by this ‘Political Virus’. . We should all try and find a way to get this ‘New-Labour’ Infection totally removed once and for all. . It’s almost as bad as C.Dif and MRSA! . . And it is still infecting our Ambulance, Police and Fire Service!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . Features/Letters

I KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT BOVINE TB

In response to Gill Purser’s letter (Your Say, April 15), she obviously knows absolutely nothing about the true facts about testing cattle for TB.

Firstly, the farmer has no say in when a test is carried out; that is down to Defra.

Secondly, to have a test every 12 months if you are in a hotspot area is unusual. We are in a hotspot area and have suffered with TB for some 10 years, so we know the true facts with regard to testing.

Our cattle are tested every 60 days, as are everyone else’s in the same situation. During that 10 years we did have a six-month period when we were clear of TB and this followed a test carried out in March, when all our cattle had been housed since the previous October.

We remained clear until a test carried out in September, following them having been out grazing all summer and prior to housing them for the winter. We had several reactors and were back to square one.

Whether cattle pass the disease to badgers or badgers to cattle is immaterial. Both can be affected, but cattle are regularly tested and any carrying the infection slaughtered, while badgers can carry on infecting each other and the cattle with no restrictions.

A true and honest animal lover would not want this scenario to continue with infected badgers suffering a horrible lingering death.

If, as Ms Purser says, a decision must be based on fact and scientific evidence, then I hope she never has any, as she obviously does not understand the true meaning of fact or scientific evidence.

Name and address supplied

This is exactly the point the thoughtful have been making all along in the face of the continual nonsense from the badger groups. . Thank goodness the Welsh Assembly and the Chief Scientist have at last had enough of what the Police Spokesperson said the Home Secretary was lacking when not giving them their rightful pay award; (to make the right decision). (Not in quite so many words). .

I’m still not absolutely clear about the connection she was making to Ed Balls the Secretary of State for Children though. .

Charles Henry

The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press

Published 21st. May 2008

Dear Editor,

Governments never learn, they always have to wait until there is a crisis. It is happening again now.

After nearly 20 years of kicking our farmers and jumping into bed with Europe, there is another shortage of food, right at the time our energy prices are also beginning to soar again. People probably won’t remember, but there was a time, in the mid 1970s, when potatoes suddenly went from about £2 to £10 for a half hundred weight bag, albeit only for a season.

The price of fish and chips soared and they never came down again.

If you take inflation into account, that is equivalent to about £200 for a 25kilo bag.

Don’t farmers do a wonderful job keeping prices down for us!? Subsidised!? Don’t make me laugh… not compared to some Government employees!

Yours

Charles Henry

EU REFERENDUM JIBE WAS UNFAIR

Your correspondent Michael Wells of Frome accuses me, “MEP is at voters’ mercy” (Your Say, May 12) of “not having been party to a proper referendum of any description".

As an active campaigner in both the 1975 UK referendum on the EU and the 1979 Scottish referendum on devolution, I find his criticism as ignorant as it is unjustified.

However, I am not convinced that either of those referendums was more legitimate than Parliamentary debate and decision. Your correspondent also claims climate change is a “lot of hot air". He may find that, in taking on the inter- national scientific community, he is tilting at an even bigger windmill.

Graham Watson MEP
South West England and Gibraltar

Mr Watson,Lib Dem MEP, and extremely pro EU member, with the adroitness and shiftiness so typical of a politician choses to miss the point of Mr Wells’ letter. No 1. The UK has not had a referendum on membership of the EU. No 2. Mr Watson was nominated and it was his Lib Dem party that was elected under the rules of the EU - party not person. Mr Watson has not been subject to either a personal election nor a referendum in the UK on the EU. Mr Wells point remains valid. Stick to the point Mr Watson and please let us have less of your fanatical pro EU stance. It is the will, the sovereignty. of the people which over-rules the will of Parliament. I suspect you have chosen to forget that as well if you were ever taught it in the first place. Government of the people for the people by the will of the people. Roll on the revolution or an EU membership referendum will suffice.

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough, Somerset

I hope the Editor publishes your reply in the Newspaper Mr.McNamee. . Graham Watson has once again demonstrated clearly how his ‘ilk’ in all the parties can twist the truth, lie to us and generally hold us all in contempt. . Well I can tell him the feeling is mutual. . You and I have differing views on the way forward, but we are at one when it comes to seeing just how slippery and conniving EU advocates really are. . But one day they will all be answerable.

Charles Henry

This is what David Cameron will have to address and reverse if his crusade to mend a ‘BROKEN SOCIETY’ is to succeed. . . The House of Lords finally destroyed any incentive for a man to find happiness in Marriage in 2006.

Another part of Tony Blair’s DISASTROUS ‘LEGACY’.

My thoughts from that day follow. . . .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Yes ‘Errol’. . I tend to agree with her. . . I couldn’t advise any son of mine that marriage was a wise course of action to take. . . There will be an even greater dearth of offspring from the intelligentsia now.

Who killed off marriage in Britain? If future historians try to identify who was guilty of the deadly assault upon the bedrock institution of our society, the bloody trail will surely lead them straight to the legal profession.

May 2008

Copyright by Charles Henry 2008

Don’t no whare April went. . da you? . . . Twer cawd an’ wet out yer. . . Dat bleedin’ Global Warmin’ agen I spec. . . Yer! . . Wot we gonna do about Gordy? . . ‘Av you seen ‘is bleeden finger nails?. . I tell ee wot. . I aint aff glad I aint got no bleedin’ morgage. . . . I nerly did mine you. . . But Social unt pay it. . . Dey spends it aw on dey forin gits now. . . An’ now aff dey is buggerin off back ‘ome wiv dere spoils. . . I aint surprised BNP is takin’ over up London. . . .

Dat wer a tern up wern it! . . . Ol’ Boris eh! . . Me bruvver nos ‘ee! . . . Ee met un up da clinic! . . Ee ‘ates me ya no! . . . Ever since I tawd un ‘is favver wer probly dat ugly git wiv da bawd ‘ed wot lent ar muvver rent money on Fursdays. .

Yer ‘illery ain’t very ‘appy. . . It don’t look like dey wants no more clintons up da white ‘owse. . . . She own’t go ‘ome niver! . . . She’s stayin’ till dey sends in da bleedin tow truck. . . George dubya finks is crismus agen,. . . . Ar anty Lil reccons ‘is ‘obbo McCain might even get a look in now. . . . Deym funny dey yanks. . . Wen theym down dey sticks tagevver. . Not like we! . . . We sticks it to um. . . See dat poor bleedin’ copper up da football? . . An’ ya no?! . . I never fawt I’d be ‘opin’ dey Welsh gits ud beat Pompey. . Can’t really see it ‘appenin thou. . In da end I put me money on Cardiff ta lose 2 nil.

Any ‘ow, . I’n off ‘ome fer a bit . . ar Ediffs comin’.

Western Daily Press. . Feature/Letters

The article, “Rider badly injured by careless driver slams ‘light’ sentence” (Western Daily Press, May 12), tells us how a rider’s horse was killed and she received two fractured neck vertebrae, a punctured lung and a fractured pelvis as a result of an accident caused by a young driver who admitted careless driving.

He was uninsured and using a mobile phone. As a result, Gloucester magistrates ordered him to pay £575 and banned him from driving for 12 months.

While I would not profess to know what is or is not the right sentence for the above offence, I can understand this rider’s frustration, for, having put my paper down, I then switched on the television to read the local teletext and found that it also included a report on the sentencing of a driver. This time, Warwick Crown Court had found a 59-year-old Bristol man guilty of dangerous driving for showing off by driving his car at 145mph.

As a result, he was given a four-month jail sentence suspended for a year, ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work, pay £2,311 in costs and banned from driving for two years, even though there was no apparent accident or injuries to the public.

Obviously, his actions were deplorable but how on Earth can the general public have any trust or faith in our judicial system when we are confronted with such disparities in sentencing?

More important, how can we have any respect for an impotent political system that can allows it to happen?

D G Roberts, Wells

D.G.Roberts’ letter explains clearly how this country is now in the grip of a new breed of almost ‘fascist’ types; obsessed with their idea of righteousness and political correctness.

When reading the obsessional ‘drip, drip’ from the ‘Ban Brigade’ now printed on an almost a daily basis by this newspaper, I just pray that politics alone will eventually rid us of their scourge. Maybe the coming bi-election will be an indicator.

After Gordon Brown’s latest bribe to women of child baring age to work only when they want to as of right; why would any small employer even dare to try and give a job to a female in that age group now?

Charles Henry

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . Features/Letters

A Pensioner’s Lament

If Brown remains as Prime Minister,

A thought has entered my head.

If he don’t tax me now I’m alive,

He’ll certainly try when I’m dead!

Alan Parker
Puxton

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Councillor Nigel Ashton - leader of North Somerset Council - says that having two mayors will help people to differentiate between himself and the chairman of the council.

What an egocentric lot Tory councillors are when they think that public recognition is essential to local government. I can assure him that I have no problems identifying the swathe of cuts they have made to essential services for our children and elderly!

I can immediately recognise that the Tory administration is spending council tax payers’ money on an extravagant dinner for themselves as part of the investiture process of the new chairman of the council!

An extra mayor for Weston is nothing more than a surreptitious way of skimming off yet more taxpayers’ money into the pockets of these would-be grandiose politicians whose main concern seems to be the advancement of their earnings potential rather than providing essential services for the most vulnerable people in the county.

Tony Probert, North Somerset

What are you doing Editor?! . . You’ve actually got me agreeing with Tony Probert now!

God forbid! . .

Next thing you’ll have me admitting I fantasize about spending evenings alone with Dawn Primarolo!!

Why discussing finance and the health of the nation of course!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

I strongly object to any “culling” or extermination of badgers to deal with bovine TB as was announced by the Welsh Assembly on April 8th.

It is not based on solid scientific evidence: on the contrary, the WAG decision dismisses sound scientific judgement and the 10-year findings of the most authoritative or scientific research ever undertaken on the subject by the Independent Scientific Group, which recommended against such badger extermination.

It is not a cull, as it is not possible to identify and kill only diseased badgers, and the present- day science shows that the vast majority of badgers are free from TB, so all will be exterminated regardless in prolonged mass carnage.

This decision is now being used as a catalyst by farming lobbyists demanding further such areas of mass badger extermination. The UK badger population is now facing a total wipe-out as a result of this decision.

With respect, the assembly decision ignores the fact that public decision-making should be based on the findings of solid scientific research and judgement.

It seems the badger has been designated a political scapegoat to appease powerful farming lobbyists, groups who dismiss all scientific findings that are contrary to their unfounded prejudices.

Martin Quigley
Hereford

If Martin Quigley only reads Beatrix Potter and Uncle Remus he will undoubtedly not have understood the risk of Mycobacterium-bovis to all mammals.

The only political attack was when BSE(Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was used by the Labour Party and many of those now involved in the KREBS trials (STRANGELY) to attack the Conservative Party and their bedrock support in agriculture. . Over 2million people die every year from Tuberculosis; but in total only about 170 died over a 10 year period from vCJD. . It cost British Agriculture hundreds of millions of pounds with over 4.5 million cattle slaughtered, and an immeasurable cost in human misery. . Its true cause is still unknown and its infectivity was never proven.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . Comment/News

A father of four was recently left with a criminal record and a hefty fine for overfilling his wheelie bin by four inches. West journalist ADAM POSTANS argues that the authorities are going too far by unfairly picking on the law-abiding public.

Like the vast majority, I think of myself as an upstanding citizen - and the prospect of even a brief appearance in a criminal court is appalling.

Until recently, I had never had even the faintest brush with the law. But a few weeks ago my reputation and spotless record was teetering on a knife edge.

For the first time in my life, I was read my rights by the police.

“You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court,” recited the police community support officer. (PCSOs are the new breed of official there to help the work of fully- fledged bobbies.)

“Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

That’s not polite ‘Errol’.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

I believe Adam Postans is speaking here for the majority, but the Labour Party never learn do they?

We don’t want PCSOs. . They are no better than ‘jumped-up’ Traffic Wardens; and we’ve all had our fill of them. . What we want are fully fledged Community Police Officers, preferably men over 7 feet tall, who live in the community. . We want officers our children can look up to and respect, whose presence will instil an element of fear into those who continually make the lives of others a misery. . And unless the Police are deliberately trying to start a riot; as was shown with the fixed cameras; they should pack up their mobile cameras; get a refund; and then spend the money on an ice rink or a swimming pool the whole community can enjoy.

Charles Henry

(more…)

North Wiltshire’s housing spokesman Councillor Howard Greenman said: “I am well aware how sensitive this issue is for both the local settled community and our gipsy and traveller community.”

“NO MORE GIPSY SITES PLEASE”

When I read the article by Tristan Cork “More gipsy sites needed” (Western Daily Press, April 22), I felt fear in my heart.

I am a Rom. I came to Bristol 30 years ago, a widow with five children. We settled in 1980 at Highwood Lane, Bristol. We had relatives there - Hollands, Coopers and Jones.

We were all forced into a corner by the Irish travellers there.

After 18 months I had to move off.

No, don’t set up caravan sites. There are thousands of Roms from Romania but no child, man or woman will be safe. Our systems will be overloaded.

I am ashamed when there is talk about gipsies, but we are Rom. My children have their caravans, horses, dogs and so on but work and pay taxes.

I know how these “travellers” work, draw the dole, and switch children, etc, to do so.

No, open the floodgates and we are all doomed. Tighten up on the so-called “travellers” we have here now instead.

Name and address supplied

As I have often said, most true Romanies joined the settled community many years ago. Many of us went to school together and became not just acquaintances, but friends. They are valued members of the community with knowledge, experience and rural skills that put many to shame. . I would like to thank this person for speaking up and wish them well. . I reinforce their stance. . We want no more ‘traveller’s’ camps! . Anywhere!

Charles Henry

MP CALLS FOR VOTE ON INCINERATOR

MP Parmjit Dhanda has launched an online referendum over whether a controversial incinerator should be built in Gloucester. . cond.

What can make greater sense than turning our waste into Energy Mr.Dhanda? . That is not ‘rocket science’. . Particularly that waste that does not naturally decompose easily. There will be little point having a small carbon footprint if we have to live on a rubbish tip to achieve it. Recycling might be necessary to save resources, but it still uses ‘energy’.

Charles Henry

HUNTING IS BEST FORM OF CONTROL

“The fox, pretty as it is, is still vermin and a ruthless killer. And, in my opinion, hunting is the best form of fox control (read the informative letter by James Barrington, “Hunting Act in need of repeal", Your Say, April 21). .cond.

Liz Burrett
Marlborough
Wiltshire

The traditional hunting of foxes is a cruel spectacle similar to a public execution, music is played (hunting horns) groups of woman and children all sitting around on horseback chatting. Then you have the executioners, some on foot to digout the fox or to whip the terrified animal back into the path of the hounds. Some on horseback to chase the poor animal. Foot followers and car followers positioned to block any escape route. Fox Hunting as pest control was never an option; it causes too much damage to the countryside. It simple is like bear bating, badger baiting, cock fighting or bull fighting, a cruel spectator sport solely for people?s enjoyment. But the hunters cannot admit to that and have to look for justification for this cruel sport to continue. Otters were once considered a pest and hunted; now they are protected, should not the fox be protected from this death sentence? Gamekeepers consider birds of prey a pest and poison them? Simply if you want to kill for fun then you need a reason to fool people that what you are doing is not evil and cruel. I wonder how many hunts are still breeding foxes to hunt!

Graham Forsyth, Somerset

One thing is missing from Graham’s latest ’scene of old’; the jesters and the Fool. . . But maybe he wasn’t! . Maybe he was just lurking making notes, ready for his next ‘recital’.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Whatever one feels about your own country, there still resides a pride in all those things that made us great. So when we are ridiculed for the state and health of our British seas by World Marine Authorities, I feel really sad.

With current policies demonstrating the ineptitude of the administration, it is really down to the hard efforts of the public who wish for something better for our future.

Where we are listened to in conjunction with the wishes of industry, then positive things happen. Where we are not listened to and only money-crunchers rule, then chaos reigns.

Such an example is the Marine Reserves Campaign which has started to build alliances with industrial partners to deliver 30 per cent “no-take” marine reserves with the aim of having them included in the Marine Bill which is going through Parliament.

The administration is ignoring criticism from abroad and trying to push forward zones which protect only about two per cent of our seas, and that is totally inadequate.

Get your MP to support Early Day Motion 1141 and let’s get our seas protected for future generations.

David Levy
Marinet Marine Reserves Campaign
Wiltshire

The solution is simple. . Tell all foreign fishing fleets to stay out of British waters. . The Iranians have the right idea, we should follow their lead. . Ted Heath’s disgraceful surrender of Britain’s fishing rights to the E.E.C. in 1972 was a flagrant act of treachery and almost treason. It typifies the whole deceitful exercise that has been foisted upon us and is now called the ‘European Union’. . Is it any wonder the British electorate have such a low regard for politicians. . Let Gordon Brown’s drubbing in the polls be a warning to ALL of them. .

Charles Henry

That’s not strictly true ‘Errol’. . . There is a core of politicians in most parties whose politics you may not always agree with, but remain true to their beliefs. . However most seem to have never grasped the fact that our sovereignty has never been something that was theirs to give away.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Western Daily Press. . . . News. 02/05/08

Shocking figures have revealed that the number of race-hate crimes in Somerset has doubled in seven years.

A report from the Somerset Racial Equality Council (SREC) shows the number of racially motivated attacks on ethnic minorities in the county has soared from 139 in 2001 to 277 in 2007.

The council’s definition of attack spans anything from physical assaults, verbal abuse and harassment to acts of vandalism. . . cond.

W.D.P. OPINION 2 May 2008:

NO ROOM FOR RACISM HERE

So it is both surprising and worrying that attacks on ethnic minorities have soared and the number of race-hate crimes in the county have doubled.

To make matters worse, the Somerset racial equality council says that many more people could be suffering in silence.

People should not fear walking down their street and should not put up with small-minded persecution. Our country has been through many racial struggles so people should be more enlightened and aware of the problems caused to ethnic minorities.

Anyone who suffers from racial abuse should report it immediately whether it’s a boss or a stranger in the street.

There is no room for racism in any corner of our society, so it’s time the small-minded minority cut out these nasty hate crimes.

Editor, . The so-called ‘Hate Crime’ as it has now been emotively named, has been introduced so Government and the authorities can avoid facing up to the cavalier attitude they have towards democracy, and their failure to consult the indigenous population. . Enoch Powell tried to warn us all that tensions would rise if immigration were allowed to escalate without proper controls. . The real crime is ‘Government incompetence’. . Whilst noting ‘Opinion’ today calls for anyone suffering racial abuse to report it immediately; when people have seen what can happen when minorities form enclaves and gradually take over cities and large areas in other parts of the country, is it really any wonder that a minority in the county, already under financial pressure and unable to get homes, react badly? . What is worse in my opinion; rather than calling for dialogue with those who feel they have a grievance, you use phrases like, ‘A small-minded minority’ which it precisely what has allowed parties like the BNP to flourish.

Charles Henry

There are groups from abroad here also now ‘Errol’, all taking advantage of the welfare state. . . . Our elderly are now treated like second class citizens. .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)