Newbury Weekly News - May 11th 2017

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

Your views POST : Newspaper House, Faraday Road, Newbury, RG14 2DW EMAIL editor@newburynews.co.uk talk to us Email letters to editor@newburynews.co.uk with your full name, a terrestrial address and daytime phone number. DEADLINE: MONDAY NOON

Pet of the Week

THERE was a time when some moth- ers told children that to fail to finish their egg, turn it upside-down, and smash it, would mean a sailor dies at sea. There was no room for doubt. Mum, of course, knew that English allows her to use ‘could’ in that sentence, and had she done so, sailors might have felt somewhat easier going about their calling. When Richard Benyon deployed the 2010 flyer that said: “A hung parliament would mean five more years of Gordon Brown” he too was at liberty to choose ‘could’ – but didn’t. He clearly intended to state a fact – but it wasn’t. No one can be in any doubt that the mother was lying to the child to gain advantage. BARRIE SINGLETON River Walk Shaw Benyon used ‘would’ instead ofword ‘could’

Giveassurance toEU citizens working here MY mum was a nurse and midwife for more than four decades and would come home from work exhausted, her sandwiches uneaten because there weren’t enough staff on the shift for her to have a break. She retired nearly a decade ago, but the problem of understaffing is getting worse. There are thousands of unfilled vacancies across the country. The NHS wouldn’t be able to function without international doctors and nurses – including staff from the EU. In the Thames Valley, nearly 10 per cent of nurses and midwives are from the EU, but they have no guaranteed right to remain after the UK leaves the EU. During 2016, there was a 37 per cent increase in the number of EU nurses and midwives leaving the NHS compared with the previous year. The Government urgently needs to provide these essential workers with reassurance that they are welcome to stay in the UK. CAROLYNE CULVER West Berkshire Green Party national budget deficit, it does make for a fairer, more equitable society. No longer would some inherit billions free of tax while others inherit no capital at all. STEPHEN GRAHAM Newbury Liberal Party organiser

proverbial stone, rather than look at alternative sources of revenue to create a more equitable society. For instance, last year the charity Oxfam released a briefing note entitled How to Close Great Britain's Great Divide: The Business of Tackling Inequality . The report makes reference to a reputable banking report which suggests that the wealthiest 10 per cent of the UK population now holds almost 54 per cent of the nation’s wealth. When I joined the Liberal Party six years ago, it was still about 40 per cent, rising to 44 per cent, and now seemingly represents over half. Much of this acquired wealth was not earned, but instead inherited via an opaque inheritance regime which simply moves wealth from generation to generation within a limited clique. To tackle this, the Liberal policy of Universal Inheritance seeks to bring about a gradually increasing positive redistribution of inherited wealth in a genuine Liberal Opportunity Society, financed by taxes on the transfer of capital from each generation to the next. It would provide every qualifying young UK citizen at the age of 25 with a lump sum Citizens Inheritance, initially modest but increasing by a similar amount year on year up to a significant level. The scheme is cost neutral as it is paid for by a reformed, exemption- free, inheritance tax. Although such a scheme does not directly address the issues of the

Liberals want afairer, more quitable society I NOTE that in the opening rounds of this June’s snap General Election, the Conservative Party is already publically mulling over the long- term prospects for income tax and VAT increases. For a party which talks about acknowledging and helping the ‘squeezed middle’ and the ‘just about managing’, it continues to look to squeeze yet more tax from the What a shame that Mrs English, who claims she is going to stop reading your paper because of its “bias”, will never see this letter. DAVID MARSH Green Party election agent for Newbury Greens won 40 seats in the local elections on May 5; UKIP won one. Who got all the coverage on the news and in the national press? Whether I agree with them or not, I always enjoy the letters in your paper and the level of debate is generally high and well-informed. The contributions from regular correspondents, such as Stan Green and Peter Norman, are themselves worth £1 of anyone’s money. And where else would we find brilliant original ideas like Michael Pagliaroli’s to turn the control tower at Greenham Common into a Star Wars tourist destination? (‘Control tower could have Star Wars future’, May 4).

Name: Winnie Breed: German shepherd Owners: The Hambidge family From: Likes: Toast, going for long walks and being stroked Would you like to nominate your pet as our Pet of the Week? Just send a nice picture with your pet’s name, breed, your name, where you’re from and your pet’s likes and dislikes to: editor@newburynews.co.uk

Tactical votewillend inaConservativewin

WHEN people such as Mick Ayling ( Newbury Weekly News letters last week) talk about voting tactically, do they mean the type of tactics so disastrously employed by Tom in his attempts catch Jerry? By Wile E Coyote to catch the Roadrunner? n Continued on page 22

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