Sue Ryder need dogs
I am chuffed to announce that I will be supporting Sue Ryder, the national healthcare charity, in its search for the charity’s first Ambassadogs.
The nationwide competition is the first of its kind and will result in 11 furry friends taking home the coveted title of Sue Ryder Ambassadog, to help support the charity’s patients through pet therapy.
I will be judging the winner alongside fellow pet lovers – actress Carley Stenson, presenter Kaye Adams, author Emily Dean, as well as experts from Sue Ryder and Pets As Therapy.
Sue Ryder’s work is so important, and we all know that pets can be great for our wellbeing. My dog, Clemmie, has certainly helped me through this past year.
Sue Ryder’s patients are either living with a terminal diagnosis or have a complex neurological condition or acquired brain injury. Sue Ryder has seen first-hand how the unconditional love and affection of its canine visitors provides companionship, relieves stress and brings joy to those experiencing the very toughest times.
If you think your dog is heads and tails above the rest, please visit www.sueryder.org.uk/Ambaasadog to apply.
May the best dogs win, good luck.
Richard Arnold, Presenter and Journalist
New road is welcome
Hooray for the new Winnersh Relief Road.
What a relief for the residents of King Street Lane who have suffered years of chugging fumes in close proximity to their houses and the people in those cars wasting their lives away.
Also for the residents of Reading Road who will benefit when new signage diverts traffic from Loddon roundabout onto the new road and the second roundabout is completed.
What a shame the residents of Winnersh were given no notice of the road changes in advance.
All those terrible drivers who like to drive on auto pilot did not see the mass of no right turns signs that were there from opening. Consequently there have been four accidents already.
A mass of complaints on Facebook are coming from people who are annoyed about the extra half mile round trip they are now having to encounter on some journeys, not realising that the new road will shorten journeys for many.
Some cite extra pollution.
Now there is a very nice, safe cycle lane that can be used all the way from Lower Earley, past Hatch Farm to the Wheatfield primary school. The same path takes you all the way from Winnersh to Asda.
So my solution for those worried about pollution and climate, get your bikes out, use them and get fit in the process. There is a whole range of trailers to suit most needs.
Think of others before you get your car out and drive carefully.
Bridget Hobbs, Winnersh
Limiting freedom
Requiring ID at polling stations is not about protecting our democracy, it’s about limiting our democratic freedom.
Best for Britain has pointed to data which shows, as of 2015, 3.5 million citizens, or 7.5 per cent of the electorate, did not have access to any photo ID meaning that while the move may stop a dozen complaints of fraud, it could also disenfranchise or disincentivise millions.
The Government also plans to dismantle the Electoral Commission watchdog and defang Judicial Review, which overturned the Prime Minister’s unlawful prorogation of Parliament in 2019.
Mayoral elections in England will be returned to First Past the Post – the only countries in Europe which still use this antiquated system for national legislatures are the UK and Belarus.
Taken together, these measures are a coordinated and insidious attack on the fabric of our democracy. They clearly show that the Government wants to avoid accountability, in parliament, in court and at the ballot box, and it is vital that progressive parties work together to stop them.
It’s about time we made our voting system fair so that election results actually reflect the will of the people, every vote is counted and trust is restored in our political system. Until we do, progressive parties must unite to resist this unchecked power grab from those at the top.
David Chapman, Wokingham
A fairer voting system
I stood as a candidate for the Women’s Equality Party (WE) in Evendons ward, Wokingham in the recent local elections.
I’d like to thank everyone who voted in the local elections, we had a great turn-out of 44% in our ward. 5.6% of those who voted – one in 18 people – voted for WE.
Ian Shenton,the Lib Dem candidate, won with 113 votes more than the Conservative candidate – many congratulations to Ian.
A number of people have expressed concern to me about smaller parties “splitting the vote” and whether or not we should stand candidates in elections where we are unlikely to win.
To me, this is acceptance of a two-party system, and suggests that all candidates stand down in favour of the two largest parties.
This does not meet the needs of voters or democracy.
The “first past the post” voting system that we have is, in my opinion, completely undemocratic.
In the 2019 General Election the Conservative party won 44% of the votes, which translated into 56% of the seats, which means they have 100% of the power.
Conversely, 16.3% of votes went to the Lib Dems, Greens and Brexit Party, yet they only won 1.8% of seats, effectively denying millions of people representation of their choosing.
Check out makevotesmatter.org.uk for more information.
As a member of the Women’s Equality Party, I feel passionately about the issues the party stands for.
WE have seven main policy areas which are not being addressed by the larger parties – see www. womensequality.org.uk/objectives
To focus on only one example, levels of domestic abuse have escalated during this pandemic.
One woman is killed every three days and women’s refuges had to decline vast amounts of referrals in 2020 due to lack of funding.
A recent survey highlighted that 86% of young women have experienced sexual harassment and a number of high-profile cases have demonstrated that women are not safe on our streets.
Despite this, none of the larger parties prioritised action to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) during their campaigns in Wokingham.
The Women’s Equality Party was the only party working day-in and day-out to address gender-based violence locally, campaigning for a safety audit of local public spaces, an assessment of local domestic abuse support provisions and calling for Wokingham Borough Council to become White Ribbon accredited (www.whiteribbon.org.uk).
Ending violence against women and girls is as vital as it has ever been.
Despite escalating levels of domestic violence and the clear impact on women being left to fill the gaps in social and child care during this pandemic, in the last Council meeting prior to the election, both the Conservative Party and The Lib Dems backed an Equality Plan which did not mention women once.
WE do politics differently.
We work collaboratively with many parties to ensure that no matter what the political agenda is, gender equality is at the very core.
I look forward to other parties demonstrating their commitment to advancing all forms of equality, especially as we begin to recover from a pandemic that has devastated lives and livelihoods.
In the meantime, WE will continue to campaign and stand in elections, to ensure equality for everyone is a political reality.
Louise Timlin, leader Women’s Equality Party Reading and Wokingham
readingandwokingham@ womensequality.org.uk
Thank you for your support
I should like to thank all those who supported me in the recent Borough Council election.
Please rest assured that I will continue to represent everyone in the ward, however they voted, and will be happy to continue to take up their issues.
Cllr Pauline Helliar-Symons, Conservative, Wokingham Borough Councillor for Wokingham Without
Cats: re sun
Cats Protection would like to advise cat owners to be aware of the risks posed to their cat by the sun.
Pale-coloured cats, or those with unpigmented white noses or ears, are particularly at risk from the sun’s rays which can cause sunburn and skin cancer.
Those affected can suffer long term damage including, in severe cases, having to have their ear tips removed to prevent the cancer from spreading.
Following a few simple tips owners can help protect their cat from the harmful effects of the sun.
These include keeping them indoors on sunny days between 10am and 3pm, asking your vet for advice about suitable sunscreen and ensuring you provide plenty of shade to enable your cat to shelter from the sun’s rays.
Dr Sarah Elliott BVetMed MANZCVS (Medicine of Cats) MRCVS, Central Veterinary Officer, Cats Protection
Government must show more ambition for the countryside
Much has been made in recent days of how Labour’s red wall continues to crumble. Eleven years into a Tory Government and the Conservatives are winning by-elections in Labour heartlands. It is extraordinary stuff.
But Boris Johnson, and the government he leads, should be keeping a much closer eye on their rural heartlands, where many are wondering if the ‘levelling up agenda’ applies to them. Indeed, if rural communities are once again forgotten the Prime Minister risks undermining his own ‘blue wall’ for years to come.
The lazy stereotype is that rural communities are wealthy and ‘quaint’ with little need of investment or support.
However, the reality is that many of the UK’s poorest regions are predominantly rural.
Due to lack of investment, the rural economy is now 18% less productive than the national average.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of jobs have not been created, and the opportunity for prosperity missed entirely. Indeed, righting this productivity imbalance would add £43bn to the national economy. The fact that the government has no coherent policy to grow the rural economy simply isn’t good enough.
Nearly half a million homes and around 125,000 businesses in rural areas have poor broadband, and Ofcom figures show 4G data coverage at 86% in urban areas vs 46% in rural areas. Without strong connectivity, full access to an increasingly digital economy will remain out of reach.
Political ill will must be growing too, at the disconnect between what ministers say about boosting the country’s green credentials, and the action taken to help rural communities play their part. A succession of tree-planting photo ops will do little to provide the incentive needed to power a green revolution.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents thousands of farmers, landowners and rural businesses, wants to see the Government show some ambition for economic development in rural areas.
At the heart of that ambition should be encouraging entrepreneurship. For example, pubs that have closed due to a lack of viability should be given permitted development rights, allowing the buildings to be used as rural business hubs for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Government should lean on network operators to deliver the much-talked about improved coverage now, not in four years’ time.
With the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us, the Prime Minister needs to make good on his promise to build back better.
His desire to level up the country is the right one, but this must work for the countryside as well as industrial centres. There are jobs to be created, businesses to support and – as far as the Prime Minister is concerned – rural votes still to be earned.
Mark Bridgeman, President, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA)
