Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Such is the low esteem which many MPs and MEPs are held these days that, when I first heard that a Tory MP was resigning, my first thought was, has he been caught with his hand in the till?

David Davis’s resignation was, of course, not about him being caught on the make financially, but was more about him being on the make politically, in my opinion.

In my view, Mr Davis’s real objective in resigning was not as clear cut as he would have us believe, when informing the summoned media he was leaving over the 42 days anti-terrorist detention without charge proposed Bill.

I think David Davis was whispering a selective message, intended to be heard only by a limited and specific group of the UK population, with at the same time a nod and a wink from the Tory hierarchy, covertly telling this group of people: “It’s OK to vote Tory, we are on your side.”

This dubious ploy by the Conservatives will not fool their intended target electorate for one minute, as they worked out a long time ago which political party would serve their interest best, and it is certainly not the Conservative Party.

Gerald Gannaway, Bristol

Gerald Gannaway is now clearly suffering from ‘Gordonitis’. . He just doesn’t seem to have a clue how the electorate really feel about the subjects that have always been dear to them. . Their freedom ; democracy and their right to govern and make laws themselves. . All the same reasons the Allies won the second World war, and why Mugabe is such a pariah now. . With Gordon growing up, and with his teen years throughout the Sixties, you would think he would still remember the old battle cry. . . “POWER TO THE PEOPLE". . Thankfully there are still politicians like David Davis around willing to make a stand to counter the deceitful, corrosive input of The Fabian Society that still seems to be the driving force behind the modern Labour Party.

Charles Henry

The society was named after the Roman general Fabius Cunctator, ‘the delayer’ who advocated a war of attrition rather than direct confrontation against Hannibal.

GRADUALISM, THE FABIAN SOCIETY’S DECEITFUL WEAPON IS NOW ALSO USED BY EUROPE TO GET THEIR WAY.

BRING THEM HOME

It is well past time we withdrew all our soldiers from not only Iraq but also Afghanistan.

We are not fighting a war to save our country, quite the reverse, after all the troubles that have happened in Britain since Tony Blair took us to war in Iraq on a lie.

So instead of sending more soldiers out to Afghanistan, bring them all home now. More than enough lives have been lost already.

We have done more than our fair share over there, being sent to the most dangerous places. Let other countries in NATO take their turn.

Helen Capel, North Somerset

I normally agree with Helen Capel but, just because other Nations have abrogated their responsibilities towards the well being of this World, does not mean we should also. . This is what has set us apart from many nations and why we have such a special relationship with the Americans, and nations like Australia and Canada. . . People should believe, if Africa was under the ‘influence’ of America right now rather than China and other Europeans nations(We still have the unfair stigma of Colonialists), Mugabe would be ‘History’ and the World would be a better place.

Charles Henry

No not really ‘Errol’. . . It’s more like leaving people to get on with it after an earthquake, or someone like Mugabe is killing them.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press

Published 5th. January 2008

Dear Editor,

With Gordon Brown’s ascendancy to the helm finally established; the transmogrification of the Labour Party came to an abrupt end.

Tony Blair’s ‘mirage’ was trying to escape the ‘Desert Storm’, but it is now just like a ‘gilded butterfly’ with its wings falling off. . . As the maelstrom continues, it is now slowly perishing and is once again becoming a ‘Socialist Bug’.

The desire for power that once provided the cohesion necessary for the deception, was in the end replaced by an unstoppable desire to punish their leader; who had just for once, dared to lead!

The last party to punish its leader in such a humiliating way was the Conservative’s; and the consequences of that debacle are now well established in political folk-lore.

However with the carnage now beginning to emerge from Gordon Brown’s period at the treasury with his tax and spend ambushes now becoming apparent to even the most short-sighted; another door is opening for ‘The Green Man on his Bicycle’; the only one of the current party leaders who we can now really trust it seems.

Love him or hate him, even without a Queen’s speech to prelude it; it is David Cameron who has been setting the agenda for change that has now become so necessary.

Yours

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . Features/Letters

By any definition Robert Mugabe is a terrorist - just as much of a monster as Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden et al.

In a couple of decades, this megalomaniac has turned his once-prosperous country into a land where evil rules, his people starve, and anyone who dares oppose his tyranny is tortured or murdered.

Every time Zimbabwe’s insane leader opens his mouth, he claims that his country’s ills are the legacy of Britain’s colonial rule.

What arrant nonsense. When the former Southern Rhodesia gained its independence in 1980 it was one of the most prosperous nations on the African continent - and the breadbasket of Southern Africa.

Thanks to Mugabe and his army of murderous Zanu-PF thugs, Zimbabwe cannot even feed its own people who are living with hyper- inflation unseen since that of Germany’s Weimar Republic.

I would venture to suggest that many of his suffering people would welcome a return to British colonial rule - or even perhaps to that of the much-reviled Ian Smith.

The only reason Mugabe has succeeded is because Britain, the United Nations and, to their eternal shame, other black African leaders - notably South Africa’s Thabo Mbeke - have spinelessly failed to curb his depravities.

Robert Readman, Bournemouth

Robert Readman speaks for many thousands of us Editor. . Let us now hope some of the ‘craven’ World leaders who have been happy to turn a ‘blind eye’; the same way they were to Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime, will now act.

This has certainly focused minds. Mugabe is no better than Adolf Hitler and should be dealt with in the same way; but by the African nations. . . It is open to them to call for more sophisticated assistance which they may require to deal with the situation should they need it, and it would no doubt be quickly supplied when sanctioned by the UN.

The delay in action so far has cost them all a great deal of respect, as I believe it has made us all question once more our attitude to those who practise this Black on Black repression and how we should deal with them in future. .

Failure to act now will only demonstrate that any discrimination that they feel they may have suffered in the past because of their colour, was totally justified. .

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Chris Rundle commenting on “issues that matter in the countryside” is a total hoot, but one, I assume, that is unintended.

I had always believed the essence of good reporting is balance, but the only balance he has derives, it would seem, from the chips on both shoulders. With his obsequious support for farmers at the expense of other groups, he is the least qualified to comment on such issues.

Farmers apart, he has consistently demonstrated contempt, and often plain dislike, for all countryside users, from walkers to conservation groups, though at least his bizarre campaign against the Cornish gives occasional relief.

The issue of set-aside and its replacement is complex, and worthy of serious debate. Fairness alone demands that conservation groups of any colour should be allowed input.

Or are “single-interest pressure groups", like those representing farmers, the only ones whose views matter?

Brian Hill, Creech St. Michael, Taunton

This letter attacking Chris Rundle, asking if he has an axe to grind, calls for a prompt response Editor. . ‘All countryside users’. . Why that’s a quaint phrase! . . By that I assume Brian Hill means, all those who long ago abandoned the countryside to seek their fortune in the ‘big city’, Dick Whittington style; and now after getting bored with their long holidays and cheap flights abroad; fat salaries and early retirement; returned to buy up all the houses so the indigenous young who still struggle to make their lives in the traditional way can no longer afford to buy or even rent a separate home there now.(Unless they of course become ‘travellers’). Single issue pressure groups? . . I don’t think so. . Just all those who stayed and truly care; and truly understand the complex vagaries of country living.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

How sad that the Cerne Abbas Giant is disappearing. What a shame for the many tourists who will be visiting the site this summer.

I agree with the Western Daily Press that we should step in to try and save him before September, when he is due to be rechalked.If it’s manpower that’s needed, I can’t help feeling that the National Trust is shirking its responsibilities.

Why haven’t some of its employees been drafted in to maintain him?

Surely, if it owns the site, it is its duty to preserve this ancient and well-loved landmark.

Name and address supplied

You see Editor! . . Everyone agrees with you! . Size really does matter!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Why did James Wilson get only 14 weeks imprisonment?

According to your report (Western Daily Press, June 21) he has been caught and taken to court for the third time for breaking into “covert cars".

What happened to “three strikes and you’re out"?

Surely this is exactly the sort of case where 20 years in prison is the only option, or are there really people around who think 49 days in prison will change his behaviour?

Barry Cash, Bristol

Anyone who has been through basic training for the British Army knows that it instils confidence, discipline, comradeship and pride, as well as many other qualities that serve people throughout their lives. . . People like James Wilson should be conscripted into the army for 3 months, with the option of signing on for a further 2 years if the Army feel they have ‘passed muster’. . The alternative will be a return to jail to complete their sentence for a further nine months, or longer depending on the severity of their crime. . The scum that were stealing red diesel from the farm cost a lovely lady her life. . We cannot let this sort of behaviour continue. . Enough is enough!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . NEWS

Bristol’s last link to the manufacture of cigarettes and cigars was severed when it was announced the city’s sole remaining tobacco factory was to shut. About 75 workers will lose their jobs with the closure of the Ashton Imperial Cigar factory but Bristol has lost much more with the curtain falling on yet another one of the industries which made it one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the country and the world.

The news came weeks after Imperial announced it had bought Spanish rival Altadis in one of the biggest deals seen in the industry.

The company has said it will keep its headquarters in Bristol but in keeping with many big industries it is farming out its manufacturing operations to less expensive parts of the world. . . cond. .

“You WILL do as WE tell you!” (paraphrase). . . . . . NEW-LABOUR 1997-2010. . . R.I.P. . . . .

“You are no longer needed! - The star of Germany will rise and yours will sink! - Your death knell has sounded!". . When the Enabling Act became ‘law’. . . . . . Adolf Hitler 1889-1945 . . . R.I.H. . . . . .

“Enlargement will not stop, the process of European unification and integration will not stop,”. .
EU ‘Officials’ June 2008. . . The Irish ‘NO’ Vote.

. . . “Oh! . Is that so?”

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press

Published 4th. June 2008

Dear Editor,

In response to the story that the number of gypsy pitches in the West could double, I have just one word: “no".

These so-called authorities such as Government Office South West need to be told the indigenous population will no longer tolerate its abuse of the democratic will of the majority. We do not want travellers’ sites anywhere. Any available land is needed for permanent homes for the indigenous young, not campsites for interlopers.

Yours

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . NEWS

Traveller families who set up home on a notorious gipsy camp in Somerset have finally been told by the Government they must move on.

The decision by planning inspector Simon Emerson comes after a lengthy public inquiry into the site at North Curry, near Taunton, and has been hailed a “victory for common sense” by the leader of Taunton Deane Borough Council, Ross Henley.

He said: “This is a landmark decision and a victory for common sense and natural justice. . . .cond. .

The question was asked, “What are they supposed to do? They have nowhere to go.". . The answer is; “Exactly what the rest of us had to do. Stay at home until we could make a life of our own". . . Councils will make provision for children and those who are genuinely homeless, but those who have deliberately arrived in this country and made themselves ‘homeless’ should be deported to their country of origin.

Charles Henry

Yes ‘Errol’. . . But it was a lot better than your cardboard box, you must admit.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

IT’S WRONG TO KILL WILD ANIMALS?

When this world was created, the beauty of the countryside was made for everyone, rich or poor.

The intention was for animals and birds to live beside the human race, wild animals mainly living in the countryside - not for man to seek them out and kill them. It wasn’t meant for man to buy most of the land to shoot birds and go on to make a business out of such cruelty, also hunting down wild animals for pleasure in the most primitive way.

It is wrong to kill, especially to make money or just to gain some sort of barbaric enjoyment.

Norah Pound, Wroughton, Wiltshire

On-line Reply. Published 19th. June 2008

I’m sorry to spoil Norah Pounds’ fairytale, and I am quite sure she must have been speaking to the good Lord about this, but I feel sure the reason God made things like venison and bush-meat taste so good was so people like Robin Hood and his merry men, and those in the jungles of Africa, and even Crocodile Dundee all had enough stimulation to hunt some down for supper.

He was obviously very forward thinking for his time. I have always assumed that is why he decided to make sex so good.

It’s just a great pity he didn’t think more about over-population of the planet. . .

But then again; MAYBE HE DID!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

I do not know the full story but the Government is not responsible for every single error made by the civil service and senior serving officers on this project.

In fact, I would hazard a guess that career civil servants within the MoD procurement section have never made a decision; senior officers do not want the legacy of making a wrong decision and so end up making very few decisions, being more concerned with promotion than with project success.

Again I am guessing that these civil servants and senior officers decided to deck up this aircraft rather like a Christmas tree with new avionics for which the many equipment suppliers were happy to oblige and, of course, make a handsome profit.

However, getting all this new equipment working together is an engineering activity.

Another point for Helen to consider, as she lives in the countryside, is that the Baileys Hunting Directory is no longer to be published, the reason being that the chap who edited it, Major General Barney White- Spunner, is now far to busy serving as a senior officer in Iraq.

You have to look deep to find the truth and perhaps Helen Capel had another less honourable motive for slagging off this Government.

I would guess it’s to get the countryside Conservatives back into power to overturn the Hunting Act. Now, who would have guessed the relationship between hounds and helicopters?

Graham Forsyth, Chard

Graham Forsyth from Chard must now be beginning to feel very lonely Editor, especially so in the light the latest financial bribe/award to Bristol’s Council for them to pioneer turning all our cities into ‘Third World Replicas’, with everyone riding around on bicycles.(Except MPs and Councillors that is). I can’t help thinking if we were going to make travel by motorcar now virtually impossible it would have been better to stick with the Sinclair C5. . Of course they will have to repair all the potholes in the roads. . . I now confidently predict Labour will be completely wiped out in Bristol at the next General Election, with only Graham and his family and a few other animal rights activists now ever voting Labour again in the whole of the South West. . Perhaps we should build a memorial for them. . Or shall we all just have another Bank Holiday to celebrate?

Charles Henry

As Charles Henry said Labour may well be wiped out in the Southwest, but this will be as a result of the Countryside Alliance and the Countryside Conservatives with the help of the VoteOK group and the many hunt supporters out in support of the Tories. Soon we may hear, “I caught a cold and it’s the Labour Heath Ministers fault", just like the Post Office closures which were started under Maggie Thatcher’s government in 1988. This pro-hunt support for the Tories is very disturbing and unhealthy and so many people who have voted Conservative for the first time are totally unaware of this hidden blood sports agenda. The Tory Shadow Cabinet is so full of privileged public school educated individuals like old Etonian Cameron himself. Even the former shadow home secretary David Davis (a man who made his own way in life without the silver spoon) has been replaced by Westminster Public School chum Dominic Grieve. It will be close to two years before the next election so I wonder if the David , Hunting Green Cameron and his Tally-Ho Tories can keep itself clean and sweet with the British public with the carbuncles of VoteOK and the Countryside Alliance visibly attached. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but can the Countryside Conservatives fool all the people all of the time?

Graham Forsyth, Somerset

Oh Dear Editor. . It seems everyone is out of step except our Graham and ‘Ar Ern’. . Oh and of course SUSTRANS, the main architects of Bristol’s congestion. . The ones who got £50million of our Lottery money to ‘junket’ with. . It makes you wonder why anyone ever paid the Road Fund Licence. . Of course it’s called ‘Car Tax’ now. . If we are all to give up drinking, and smoking, Bicycle Tax is going to have to be pretty hefty ho ho!! . But don’t worry. . You will still have loads of cheap flights to Spain. . Well those of you who still have any money left after you’ve paid your Mortgage, your Council Tax, your Gas bill, your Grocery bill, your Flooding Insurance, not forgetting your Electricity and Heating Oil. . But it’s not the Governments fault. It must be George Dubya’s. . All he ever cared about was oil! . . I wonder why?

Charles Henry

Well Charles Henry, you can talk about everything else apart from the Countryside Alliance and VoteOK supporting the Countryside Conservatives because that’s a big secret ‘we must keep people in the dark about what we countrside peole get up to’. SUSTRANS use country lanes so they are not good for the countryside as bikes get in the way of hunting horses. Tally-Ho to the ever so green hunting Tories.

Graham Forsyth, Somerset

Editor I see Graham as an obsessional-neurotic with a big chip on his shoulder about those who he seems to see as his ‘betters’; whereas me; I’ll campaign with any group on any issue of natural justice. . I was brought up with Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’ at my bedside. . I still try neither to look too good nor talk too wise, and I’ve long since given up dreaming. . I’ve achieved what I can in the time allotted me, and I’ve avoided any real disasters. . But do you know what? . I still can’t bear to hear the truth I have spoken, twisted by knaves trying to make a trap for fools. . I don’t get to ‘walk with Kings’, nor will I ever. . I’m just a common man and treat all men equally.

Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

I think lots of people support Graham’s view Mr Henry. And cars haven’t been called ‘motorcars’ since the 1940s and this is also reflected in Mr Henry’s political viewpoint (with respect). .

Kimmy Wilson, Bath

I have no doubt Graham has many supporters Kimmy, but(with respect); so does Robert Mugabe! . . The Motorcar? . Do you mean as I do, the vehicle driven by the silent(but no longer) majority for nearly 7 decades since then?

Charles Henry

G.Forsyth letter dated 19 June 08. . When you and folk alike accept that a bodged law by this goverment will not stop Hunting. . Hounds will always meet at 11! . Banks - Gone, Bliar - Gone, Prescott- Gone, Alun Michael - Gone. The countryside and its ways work, so dont break it!

P L Kent, Essex

Mr Henry, we all have opinions - but Robert Mugabe does a great deal of physical harm with his far right politics. . You stated in an earlier posting that “Graham and his family and a few other animal rights activists … ever voting Labour again in the whole of the South West” and I just pointed out that this may not be so. You may prefer it that no one has any other opinion rather than yours but this is not the case.

Kimmy Wilson, Bath

Far right far Left, the difference is often indistinguishable. . He’s just a common criminal, a murderous thug who has to be stopped. . As was Saddam Hussein. . Hunters harm no one, in fact quite the opposite. . Country people have always been happy to live and let live and mind their own business. . But not happy with that; a minority of misguided anthropomorphic activists decided they would try and ‘impose’ their will. . But I’m afraid you have pushed too far and have now come up against a countryside ‘brick wall’. .

Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

TRIP WAS RUINED BY CAR CLAMPERS

On June 4, I travelled to Bristol Temple Meads by train in order to lecture to the Bristol Camera Club. cond. .

My grandson and I had no intention of parking at the hotel for any longer than was necessary to unload. This was my first visit to Bristol; I hope it will be my last.

Mrs P Thomas, Hove, East Sussex

YOU AIN’T SEEN NUFFIN’ YET MISSES.

‘Errol’, up Bristaw

Western Daily Press. . . .Features/Letters

At long last, not only can the electorate hear about some integrity in British politics but through one, and only one, MP we can see it as well.

Our freedoms deserved more than deals on the back stairs by Mr Brown to secure a marginal win on the extension of detention without trial. Well done Mr David Davis Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden, in resigning, thereby forcing a by-election on this issue which is so fundamental to British democracy.

By the signing of the Magna Carta on June 15th. 1215, tyranny was brought to an end in this country and the document was subsequently used across the world as the basis to establish democracies in developing countries. And how unfortunate that, almost to the anniversary date, we are having to establish that right again.

By over-government and over-regulation Mr Brown, and hopefully this Government, may be viewed as a “dead men walking” from now to the next election.

If sufficient public attention is now drawn by the media we may yet get rid of that other threat to the evolved democracy of the United Kingdom by a referendum on membership of the European Union.

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough

In the light of the recent Irish vote, Gordon Brown could enhance his standing with the electorate tenfold if he were to confound everyone and call a referendum now. . . . He could give Europe a quick lesson in democracy that would undoubtedly lead to far more satisfactory long term collaboration with our European neighbours; which after all is supposed to be the ultimate aim. . . No lasting consensus can ever be achieved whilst any of the European electorate are feeling oppressed and bullied. . Without it there will never be ‘Peace in our Time’.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . Features/Letters

Who on Earth do TV Licencing think they are? We are now considering a police complaint of harassment against the individual officers who keep sending us their very threatening letters. cond. .

The TV licence is good value for money and, if you don’t pay you deserve to be punished, but after 187 days they won’t even acknowledge we have a licence. cond. .

Royston and Amanda Martin Wells

TV Licence ‘good value for money’. . You have to be joking! . It is now simply another ‘vehicle’ that has been passed into law, for another cosseted minority to exploit modern technology and live very ‘High on the hoof, thankyou very much’. . Roll on the Revolution!

Good value for money is say a 25kilo bag of potatoes for about a fiver! . Or a breast of lamb! . Please let’s all start getting real.

Charles Henry

There is little point dicussing this with you ‘Errol’. . . And in any case Gordon Brown has already decided the Governor of the Bank of England is to blame. . . . But there are those who believe that this New-Labour Government, with Tony Blair as Prime Minister and Gordon Brown as Chancellor; will prove to be the most dangerous this country has ever known. . . . . Of course, we all knew from the very beginning they would always blame the Bank of England for any shortcomings; and that the ‘Single Lever Interest Rate’ control of the economy was fraught with danger. . . .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

BBC MUST SERVE ALL THE REGIONS
Western Daily Press. . Features/letters

The TV programme Casualty is undoubtedly important for the West’s economy, bringing £10 million to the Bristol region.

It is unfortunate that it is located in a mythical northern city called Holby. There is no cultural reason why it should not be filmed in Cardiff rather than in Bristol.

There should be a Bristol-based soap which is obviously set in Bristol. It is a condemnation of the London-centred BBC that “out there", is regarded as an amorphous whole. It would make most sense to film Casualty somewhere in Yorkshire, such as Leeds, and not in either Cardiff or Bristol. . cond.

T R Spratt
The Wessex Society, Weston-super-Mare

£10million? . That seems a bit fanciful!. . But if you consider the £6million a year they are paying Jonathan Ross, and the £millions to other presenters with an almost captive audience; and the Good Lord only knows how much to other people for some of the other dross that puts itself forward as ‘Entertainment’ these days! . With the TV Licence now costing nearly £140, the Bristol vernacular would be, . “WE’RE BEIN’ BLEEDIN’ ROBBED BLIND!”

Charles Henry

“This is just an empty jesture by someone throwing his toys out of the pram.". . . . Mangelwurzel

Much too cynical Mangelwurzel and in one sooo young.

It is hardly an empty gesture, potentially it will cost him, personally, much. . Regardless of party, when an MP acts out of conviction/principle they should be applauded. For one reason there are so few in UK politics, so many being clones and placemen.

David Davis’s action will ensure civil liberty, habeas corpus (too many of the electorate won’t even know what it means at the moment thanks to our crxp education system) and Magna Carta will be aired for weeks to come.

With luck and an interested media so also might the EU Reform Treaty which has still to be voted on in the Commons, now there is a threat to the evolved democracy of the UK.

Maybe, just maybe, the media might pick up on the EU’s armed police force, EuroPol, and the EU legal framework Corpus Juris - SIX MONTHS detention without trial! Now there’s infringement of our liberty.

I cannot claim credit for the following but well worth the consideration !

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough, Somerset

“Sir, .To judge the importance of Mr Davis’s actions, recall the dialogue between William Roper and Sir Thomas More in ‘A Man for All Seasons’.

The story takes place in 16th century England. But men like Sir Thomas More, who love life yet have the moral fiber to lay down their lives for their principles, are found in every century. Concentrating on the last seven years of English chancellor’s life, the struggle between More and his King, Henry VIII, hinges on Henry’s determination to break with Rome so he can divorce his current wife and wed again, and good Catholic More’s inability to go along with such heresy. More resigns as chancellor, hoping to be able to live out his life as a private citizen. But Henry will settle for nothing less than that the much respected More give public approval to his headstrong course.

More: “What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”

Roper: “Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!”

More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? . . This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?”

We urgently need to determine a point beyond which our government and its minions cannot act against its citizens.”

Philip Secretan, Barcombe, East Sussex

This is undoubtedly true in my view Colin. It is not only the march of the jobsworths’ that has to be stopped. . This sort of behaviour is obviously repugnant when we see Mugabe at it. . 42 Days without any charge or legal protection is no better.

People should be taught the history of Hitler’s ‘Enabling Act’. . David Davis is of the generation that remembers these things. . . David Cameron is not.

“On March 23, 1933, the newly elected members of the German Parliament (the Reichstag) met in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin to consider passing Hitler’s Enabling Act. It was officially called the ‘Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.’ If passed, it would effectively mean the end of democracy in Germany and establish the legal dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.”

It was, the rest is history, and now we have the EU!

The Enabling Act

Thanks Charles. Interesting, relevant and with our now xrap history school education most will not know. . . Well done our incompetent politicians.

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough, Somerset

The problem is getting responsible ‘vehicles’ to publish these things Colin. . ‘It appears’ that even the Editor of our own dear Western Daily Press has apoplexy each time the word ‘Hitler’ or ‘Nazi’ is mentioned in any discussion about Europe. . . They have joined the word ‘Xenophobe’ in the armoury of language the Europhiles use to either mock or attack those who see through their ‘adventure’.

With the Irish now having said ‘NO’ to ‘The treaty to turn a blind eye to the communal deceit’, . (bless them. I take everything back I have ever said about Irish stew).

I think Prince William should now ditch Kate Middleton and marry JESSIE!!!

Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

WHY THIS ANGER AND BIAS OVER RAMBLERS?

I am writing with regard to Farm Talk, “Coastal path free- for-all tramples on people’s rights” (June 11).

Why is Chris Rundle frequently vindictive, angry, biased and ill-informed? I am not convinced he likes ramblers in any form. I do not support yobs, whether on the farm or walking in the country. I have many friends who are ramblers.

They have no wish whatsoever to walk aggressively or illegally as he would have us believe. I have not experienced yobs going for long country walks.

Ramblers dress in accordance with their activity, including “Nordic poles” for some. Any orthopaedic surgeon will inform you that it is the most appropriate, beneficial aid to relieve stress on joints when on long, arduous walks. I do not recognise any emotive and biased descriptions employed by Chris Rundle.

My concept of the right to roam is to pursue an innocent, healthy activity in a legal and quiet way by law-abiding walkers who have no axe to grind and do not wish to aggravate landowners or any other member of the public.

Get off your bottom, Chris. Join a 10-mile hill walk with us. Perhaps you will find it uplifting and relieve some of that pent-up anger.

Incidentally, I think some people look ridiculous with a beard, but I do not castigate bearded men. Women perhaps!

Russell S Eagles, Bath

It is not that people want to walk across their fields to enjoy the landscape that upsets many farmers, it’s the fact it has been demanded as a ‘right’. . A “Please may I” or “Would you mind?” has traditionally been all that was ever necessary. . I am sure most people would feel exactly the same way about someone wanting access to their back (or front) Garden. . Particularly if it had taken the greatest part of a life time’s endeavour achieving it.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

It occurs to me that the answer to the problem of the theft of lead from church roofs may lie with the parishioners themselves.

If they were to have a rota for a parishioner to sleep in the church at night with a sleeping bag and mobile phone under a pillow with the church doors locked, any disturbance could immediately be reported to the police .

Even a small parish such as ours could manage this, let alone a large one.

I am 80 years old but I would be willing to take my turn as watchkeeper.

Ron Dowling, Hereford

You mean some dastardly ingrates are stealing Church roofs and then disappearing up the motorway in their lorries again Mr Dowling? . Well we can all guess where they spring from! . . Crime? . . What crime? . . We keep being told crime has been going down since New-Labour came to power. . They say it was Mark Twain the American satirist, and writer who first coined the phrase. “Lies, damned lies and statistics.” . Huckleberry Finn had the right idea. . He just went fishing.

Charles Henry

You know I think you are right ‘Errol’. . So you did learn something at school afterall. .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Western Daily Press. . . Letters

It is hard to know whether Sir Ben Slade has been pulling Chris Rundle’s leg.

Mr Rundle reported - no doubt in good faith but with perhaps some credulity - Sir Ben’s remarks about a method of getting rid of badgers by tipping a couple of pints of human urine down a “sett".

To put his various unsubstantiated assertions into perspective, it could indeed be credible that urine could deter the use of individual holes in a sett for a while.

But as any badger-watcher knows, a sett has a great many entrances. This could present a supply problem.

Mr Rundle asserts that badgers are dying from TB fast enough to kill them all off sooner than people think. He should give his authority for this, because the Randomised Badger Culling Trial found that very few of the badgers killed were infected.

Similarly, he should give your readers the basis for his assertion about killing by carbon monoxide. In particular, he should advise them how carbon monoxide could be administered efficiently enough, cost- effectively enough, widely enough and quickly enough .

Then he should advise them how they could defend themselves in court.

In the meantime, those of his readers who are farmers plagued with bovine tuberculosis could consult our website (badgertrust.org.uk) where they will find helpful links to the soundest and most unbiased published scientific literature on this immensely complicated disease.

We are also happy to take phone calls (08458 287878) from farmers seeking to check the reliability of unsubstantiated assertions.

Dave Williams, Chairman, Badger Trust

Is Dave Williams just ‘Whistling in the Dark’ or perhaps ‘Whistling Dixie’? . . Trying to ‘Blow the Whistle’ or even ‘Whistling in the Wind’? . . Which ever it is I am sure the troubled farmers will all be ‘As Clean as a Whistle’ and by now ‘Wetting their Whistles’ having realised the Chief Scientist has at last seen the light and the error of the Government’s ways.

Charles Henry

I must say ‘Errol’, that’s a very astute observation. . . Even for you.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

I Was appalled to read your front- page article in which you promote interference with badger setts. This was then followed up by Chris Rundle who listed two additional methods of sett interference.

He may not have directly promoted them in his article, but he certainly gave people ideas. To interfere with badgers or their setts is illegal. To suggest such ideas to the public is immoral, if not illegal.Mr Rundle got his facts wrong when he stated that the badger population is reducing as a result of bovine TB. Badgers do not suffer from bovine TB.

Bovin TB is a farming problem and will not be resolved by killing wildlife. Professor John Bourne, of the Independent Scientific Group, stated in his letter to the Secretary of State that: “Badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain.”

With comments as strongly worded as this, how can your paper continue to promote the fallacy that badgers are the principle cause in spreading the disease?

Malcolm Clark Wiltshire Badger Group

Mycobacterium bovis certainly is a problem for farmers Mr.Clark, but they now know how to deal with it. . . Cull any cattle incubating this bacillus and then remove any reservoir specious from their land they know to be harbouring and dying from it also. .

And if any relative of mine had been having their grave undermined by badgers, no stupid law pushed through by a bunch of psychos and bigoted MPs would have prevented me doing something about it. . And what is more there is not a jury in the land that would find anyone guilty of any crime for doing so. . Millions died fighting a vicious enemy in two World Wars to make this a Free Country. . We are not about to roll over when faced with a stupid bunch of psychotic, anthropomorphic misanthropes.

Charles Henry

COUNTRY TRICK IS NOT A NEW IDEA

I Always find Chris Rundle’s Farm Talk column amusing, and especially so this week.

The “new idea” he mentions, of using urine to deter badgers, has been used by farmers and country people for many, many generations. It will also deter foxes from around artificially reared game-birds.

And as regards the current food crisis, we all know it takes seven tonnes of grain to produce one tonne of meat, so it is only common sense to reduce our consumption of meat and use the grain for human consumption.

This in turn will mean we would produce enough grain to feed the population, with the possibility of a surplus for sale on the open market.

And, as there would be fewer cattle about, this would reduce the spread of bovine TB.

M J Haines, Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Mr.Haines, you are right about urine of course and there are some even better ‘repellents’, but you are completely wrong about beef production. .

According to the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) 1999 Animal Agriculture and Global Food Supply Report, an average of 2.6 pounds of grain is used to produce a pound of beef in developed countries and 0.3 lb. in DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. . Animals don’t steal grains destined for the world’s hungry; instead they consume large amounts of feedstuffs not suitable for human consumption. This includes forage from marginal land that can’t be cultivated for human foods and food processors’ by-products.

Charles Henry

The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press

Published 7th. June 2008

Dear Editor,

In your story “Victory for common sense as gipsies are told to leave (4th June), the question was asked, “What are they supposed to do? They have nowhere to go.". .

The answer is simple; “Exactly what the rest of us had to do. Stay at home until we could make a life of our own". . .

Councils will make provision for children and those who are genuinely homeless, but those who have deliberately arrived in this country and made themselves ‘homeless’ should be deported to their country of origin.

Yours

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . Features/Letters

As a betrayed Conservative voter - especially over the referendum - it was the best possible result for Labour to be trounced in the recent elections.

Yet I remain unconvinced by call-me-Dave Cameron as a class candidate.

Why? When I think of Dave there are two images that immediately spring to mind. The first is of him and the other Bullingdon boys.

Why does he seem less like a potential Prime Minister and more like a smug captain with a barrel full of cabin boys?

Does he have a cruel streak from his days of frequently riding with the Heythrop Hunt?

Regardless of his aversion to the new legislation, can I vote for someone who believes it is ethical and morally right to kill animals for fun?

When he goads Gordon Brown, is it his gloating that is unacceptable, or his thin-lipped sarcasm that shows the skull beneath the skin?

Is it his acolytes, like little Georgie Osborne who hangs on his shirt tails?

Apart from his PR background, is it that his soundbites sound like catchy slogans rather than considered policies?

“The second image I have is of Dave having a cosy chat with Jonathan Ross and trying hard to be on the same cultural plane.”

Is he a doppelganger for Ross who occasionally lets his mask slip to show the caustic and cynical in equal measure?

It might, of course, be pitching it way too high, and the troubling features of Dave are all too obvious, for he has all the negative characteristics of the lady in whose shadow he tries to hide, Margaret Thatcher, yet possesses none of her positive ones.

Name and address supplied

Well Editor, . I kept a straight face and kept reading this diatribe from an animal rights activist until I read the line, . “The second image I have is of Dave having a cosy chat with Jonathan Ross and trying hard to be on the same cultural plane.". . Then I nearly choked on my cup of coffee trying to refrain from a bout of hysterical laughter. . . Anyone who has any regard for Jonathan Ross and thinks he is worth £6million a year and is really on any sort of cultural plane worth boasting about, has to be three bob short of half-a-crown. . I can only assume Dave was trying to raise a few quid for the Conservative Party coffers.

By the way, if all of us OAPs could have the same level of care and attention as the average Race Horse, they would have to build twice as many care homes because we would all be so happy we would think we had already died and gone to heaven.

Charles Henry

This letter is rather absurd and I doubt very much the writer was ever a Conservative voter, betrayed or otherwise. . Too much class ridden, sounds more like a Lib Dim under false colours. . I have no time for Cameron or the Conservative Party, add to that the Lib Dims and Labour Parties, Greens. All of them have betrayed the UK electorate, to whom they are accountable. Not supposedly accountable but a matter of law and under our democracy.

“Morning Charles, hope you enjoyed your second cup of coffee.”

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough, Somerset

Good Lord it’s afternoon already Colin. . It will soon be time for my medicine again. . I must try and remember not to have more than 2 units today. . Do you think a flagon is more than a unit?

Charles Henry

Oh dear. . .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

DEFRA IS A BIGGER KILLER OF CATTLE THAN THE BADGERS ARE

I retired from dairy farming 20 years ago but I still like to keep in touch with what is happening on our dairy farms.

I just cannot believe what Defra is doing to the cattle.

Gordon Tulley recently lost most of his herd of pedigree South Devons. How many of these were clear of TB after being slaughtered?

Then Tony Yewdall had 80 cows shot on the farm. Seventy-five of these were proved disease-free after being shot. This TB test must be the most flawed test ever!

Thousands of healthy cattle have been killed over the last few years, with no signs of TB after slaughter, compared to a small percentage with TB, which was supposedly given to them by badgers (but not proven).

I am not a member of the Badger Trust, by the way!

Defra is a bigger killer of our cattle than badgers ever were or are.

Someone in higher places needs to let farmers know what’s going on. I won’t even start on the Pirbright fiasco!

Name and address supplied

Of course this retired farmer is correct. . Defra’s modus operandi is deplorable and has clearly been politically driven; but we must still not lose sight of what is the enemy of us all. . Tuberculosis and the increasingly antibiotic resistant strains of Mycobacterium; particularly Mycobacterium bovis; of which the badger is one of the main reservoir species.

Charles Henry

Let us not forget that the main reservoir for Mycobacterium bovis is cattle. The name gives it away - bovis - bovine - cattle. Bacteria are a part of the natural environment and are a very adaptable organism that comes in myriad forms each specialising in exploiting a particular vulnerability. Susceptible cattle get infested with bovine TB and pass it to other cattle, and go on to infect any other susceptible mammals.

Roger, West Cornwall

You will find that is because it was first isolated in ‘cattle’ as the agent causing the TB in cattle, henceforth Mycobacterium bovis. TB goes back to the Pharaohs. When we found out it was also killing humans. We culled the infected cattle, as do all developed nations. We cleaned up our national herds. . Badgers as a ‘reservoir’ were not a problem to cattle because they were once ‘hunted’ and eaten. Easy prey and a Romany dish. . 50 years ago few people ever saw a badger in their entire lives. . . We achieved ‘a Brucellosis free national herd’. It was only put in jeopardy when the badger was protected. . If you lived underground with others with Mycobacterium tuberculosis you would very soon all get TB and have the prospect of a long lingering death without antibiotics. . I believe your cavalier attitude towards TB because you see badgers just as ‘lovely creatures’, is not just stupidity, it’s dangerous.

Charles Henry

AN INTERESTING REFERENCE: MYCOBACTERIA. . . . .

* non-pathogenic mycobacteria, are usually harmless to humans, and exist in the global environment without human interaction.

* obligate pathogenic mycobacteria (i.e. known to cause disease), cause disease in humans and other animals. Also, they require the benign environment of a host animal to multiply. Well known examples of pathogenic mycobacterial disease in humans are tuberculosis and leprosy. Disease caused by these obligate pathogen organisms is always chronic (long-lasting), since they take long periods of time to multiply, and are difficult to eradicate. Not all humans mount a successful immune response to these mycobacteria, and they can be fatal in those people if untreated.

* potential pathogenic mycobacteria, can exist in the environment independent of humans but can also cause disease if the immune defences of the host they infect are impaired or suppressed. These potential pathogens are often referred to as opportunistic pathogens, because they become pathogenic when presented with the right opportunity. . I am given to understand that it is these complexities that are just ONE of the many reasons why a comprehensive vaccine is so difficult to achieve and is probably a long way off.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Mark Formosa is incredibly misguided if he thinks that nuclear energy will keep the lights on. . . cond. .

Once a nuclear power station is complete, it will take a decade before it can generate the amount of energy it took to build it; so no net benefit for two decades.

Mike Rigby
Taunton

Mike Rigby’s arithmetic is fanciful, bordering on the lunatic. . There may be valid arguments against the nuclear option, but that is not one of them. . Realistically there is no option, except perhaps prayer, but we have all seen the problems too much of that can cause.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . . NEWS

Housing chiefs and residents involved in controversial moves to create 24 Gipsy pitches in an area of the West were shocked yesterday when it emerged that the required number could double.

People from three North Wiltshire towns are being quizzed by the district council after planners were given £250,000 by the Government to create homes for 24 Gipsy families. Campaigns have been mounted by residents as on Saturday when hundreds marched through Chippenham in protest against the prospect of a Gipsy camp being placed on their doorstep.

However, yesterday it emerged that the Government Office for the South West (GOSW) has strongly recommended that North Wiltshire should accept 48 new Gipsy and traveller pitches - rather than the 24 originally planned. . . cond.

One word Editor! . . ‘NO’ . . These so-called ‘authorities’ like the GOSW need to be told, we the indigenous population will no longer tolerate their abuse of the democratic will of the majority. . We do not want travellers’ sites ANYWHERE!. . . Any available land is needed for permanent homes for the indigenous young; not camp sites for interlopers.

What is it going to take for these numbskulls to understand that they are our ’servants’ not our ‘masters’. . Do we all have to start voting for the BNP!??

Charles Henry

Yes ‘Errol’. . . She probably means a boot.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Western Daily Press. . . News

A new action plan to tackle the growing problem of underage drinking was dismissed last night as the latest in a series of gimmicks. . cond.

The Tories said the latest Government action plan followed 11 years of dithering, and was “yet another in a series of gimmicks".

West academics Martin and Moira Plant, who wrote the first book on binge drinking, have calculated a 10 per cent price rise would lead to a 10 per cent fall in consumption.

Academics?? . Calculated?? . . Using what? . . Pythagoras’s theorem? . . Most ‘children’ have mobile phones now and seem to have money to burn that OAPs can only dream about. . . What most of them, and now a good few of their parents needed was a bit of discipline starting when they were very young. . . The deterrent of some Russian style policing with unpleasant consequences is now what is needed. . Few risked getting banged up in a Russian jail at the football match recently. . What more proof does anyone need?

Charles Henry

An opportunity has undoubtedly been missed.

. . . Jessie was the perfect ‘Nancy’.

She is a Super-Star in waiting.


Truly Scrumptious


What I did For Love

She will go on to break many hearts I am sure ‘Errol’.

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)