Our moral obligation to international aid

An Open Letter about overseas aid to the Member of Parliament for Wokingham from the Rector of Wokingham:

Dear Sir John,

I urge you to do the right thing and use your vote in Parliament to block the Government proposal to reduce overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP.

This is an outrageous proposal because it risks causing the avoidable death of hundreds of thousands of people for the sake of a tiny portion of total Government spending. As you know, the amount of overseas aid will reduce in any case because it is based on a percentage of our national income which has decreased in the current recession. There is a moral case for increasing the percentage, not reducing it, to take account of this.

This proposal is morally wrong and also prudentially wrong. It will diminish Britain’s soft influence in the world and also increase our security risks. In the longer term it will cost us more.

The argument for this cut based on affordability is not tenable. An increase in defence spending has been announced. Why is this justifiable in a recession when aid spending is reckoned unaffordable?

It feels insulting to me and I guess millions of other British people when the Prime Minister and the Chancellor claim this is what the British people would want. There is no single unified voice of the British people on this matter. Like me, many will deplore this proposal.

I call upon you to vote against this cut.

The Revd Canon David Hodgson, Rector of All Saints Wokingham

Sheer vandalism

I was extremely upset to see the sheer vandalism, as shown in your lead article this week, performed by so-called developers who are now saying they want to engage constructively with the local community.

Too late, they should have done this before using a “cutting and burning” approach to this area. It is sheer vandalism and should not be allowed in this day and age.

It is the attitude developers had 50 years ago, not now. I do not believe they are fit to be land owners. The best thing they can do now is to sell this land to someone who supports the environment and leave.

I have written to senior officers at Wokingham Borough Council to ascertain whether there is any action the council can take against this and any future action of this nature. I have also asked whether they can advise what additional planning, or climate change actions can be done which can prevent, or at least hinder such vandalism.

For example making the land owners put the land back into its previous state, or to fine them.

It will also be necessary to lobby the Government to stop such unacceptable actions in the future.

Cllr Lindsay Ferris, Leader of the Democrats and Leader of the Opposition in Wokingham Borough Council

WBC’s ‘willful blindness’

I often tell my son that whenever he borrows something it must be given back later. It seems, however, that our Conservative-led council does not understand this basic principle of borrowing.

As you might have seen, the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan shows on page 84 budgeted external and internal borrowing for 2022/23 of £476.2 million and £200.6 million respectively, giving a total of £676.8 million. Internal borrowing is budgeted to increase by 40.67% between 2020/21 and 2022/23.

Internal borrowing uses cash our council holds for other purposes and interest is charged.

Sometimes internal borrowing defies ‘the basic principle of borrowing’ and may not be repaid.

For example, the council might decide the purposes it was originally earmarked for are not to go ahead.

But, if these purposes were considered important enough to save money for before the money was later ‘borrowed’ and used elsewhere, this is a worry.

Currently the council plans to pay back the external debt over 28 years. Potentially, my son and quite possibly grandchildren will still be paying for some of WBC’s currently budgeted borrowing in 2048.

I believe the action of our Conservative-led council is nothing less than wilful blindness.

I share the views of many residents who cannot believe the reckless behaviour that is leading to hugely worrying levels of debt that will do much harm, and will have to be paid back by our current and future generations of council tax payers.

I feel that spending habits need to change and quickly for our short- and long-term futures.

Wes Budd, Liberal Democrat campaigner, Hillside Ward, Earley

Procurement care

I asked a question about the Support and Care Procurement (purchase of Adult Care Services) Agenda item 49, at Executive WBC on Thursday, November 26.

Making service purchase more harmonious will bring stability and rationalisation of cost to WBC when working with supported living (adults under 64 who live with their family or have their own tenancy of their own) and Homecare (looking after a person, usually over 65, from the comfort of their own home).

I applaud this initiative and was relieved to hear this will occur over time.

Despite this assurance, I want to know how WBC is going to ensure that, while developing this framework, people in care settings do not have disruptive or unnecessary changes to their care?

These changes in care personnel and providers can have negative effects on the people being cared for, an unnecessary burden to people who are often marginalised anyway.

Cllr David Hare, Liberal Democrat Town and Borough Councillor for Hawkedon ward, and Opposition lead for Adult Care

A treat for the eyes

Can I recommend a trip to Rose Street this Christmas? It’s worth it if even for a few moments just to admire the beautiful festive window display that WADE has created.

Charity shops don’t always get many plaudits in a town centre but WADE seems to have created a shop front that compliments what is already a classy part of town.

Thank you for lifting our spirits.

Graeme Hobbs, Wokingham Positive Difference

Doctor’s orders

With reference to your article about GP surgeries: it feels like a catch 22 situation.

We cannot change surgeries, I am told, but must go to the one designated for my locality. I have given up trying to get appointment.

When I asked if there were a maximum number of patients a surgery was allowed to take according to its staffing levels, I was told that there was no maximum.

That may be why I have not seen a GP since June last year, I believe.

I am in my 80s and clearly have not developed the knack of ringing at the right time but will keep trying to develop it as I do not wish to move house.

Name and address supplied

Blue bags going green?

I read your letter from Malcolm Inglis about blue bags. I had two rolls of bags from the latest provision surplus to our needs, so I took them to the offices at Shute End.

I received their thanks and was promised Green Redeem points, but here we are months later and I’ve received nothing.

So, don’t believe false promises, give them to those that need them.

Ric Tilbe, Wokingham

Ban ad boards

I am all for banishing advertising boards from the town’s footpaths, pedestrians are more than enough for cyclists to cope with.

Joe Pester, Wokingham

Economic questions

The economic figures released on Wednesday last week by the Chancellor as part of the Comprehensive Spending review make for grim reading. It confirmed that Covid-19 has hit our economy harder than any of our international comparators and that we are not going to recovery as quickly as we all hoped.

Wokingham Borough and Reading Borough will now head into Tier 2 but Government moved too slow into lockdown and were too hasty to withdraw the life-line support from businesses. The Chancellor has had to rip up his winter plan before the ink was even dry.

The Chancellor chose to freeze the pay for police officers, firefighters, teachers and other key workers who worked so hard to us safe during the pandemic. Freezing the pay of public workers also has a knock-on effect on our high streets and small businesses. It’s a double-whammy which we will feel hard in Reading.

The Chancellor is also pressing ahead with his cut to Universal Credit – taking money from the pockets of those who can least afford it.

Contrast this to the billions of pounds wasted on botched contracts – too many of which were fast tracked without scrutiny – to friends of the Tories and the ballooning cost of a Test & Trace system which is simply not working.

These Government failures will cost the country dear and the bill will now be picked up by key workers and those out of work.

The Comprehensive Spending Review should have focused action to recover jobs, retrain workers and rebuild businesses. Unfortunately, it was a missed opportunity.

Matt Rodda MP, Member of Parliament for Reading East

Puppy smuggling

Every year thousands of puppies are smuggled across Europe in appalling conditions to be mis-sold to UK dog lovers. Many suffer life-threatening health conditions, and some don’t survive, leaving their buyers helpless and heartbroken – as well as out of pocket.

Demand for dogs has soared during lockdown and it’s creating a lucrative market for puppy smugglers. Since lockdown started, we’ve rescued 14 heavily pregnant mums, and an incredible 140 puppies that could have fetched over £380,000 for cruel smugglers, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Last week, Dogs Trust Veterinary Director Paula Boyden gave evidence to a special one-off EFRA session (The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee) on puppy smuggling, to urge the Government to take action.

Something has to change. For over six years we’ve campaigned to end this abhorrent trade, yet Government continues to drag its heels. Despite the three largest political parties pledging to stop puppy smuggling at last year’s General Election, over 200 Parliamentary Questions being tabled on puppy smuggling since 2014, and 148 MPs joining our puppy smuggling campaign, we’re no closer to seeing this suffering end. In fact, we have yet to see any significant action from Government at all.

Current legislation is not fit for purpose. We need to cut this trade off at the source and close the loopholes which put innocent puppies at risk, and we need to do this urgently.

As the Brexit transition period draws to a close on December 31, now is the time for Government to act and, dare we say, ‘take back control’ of this spiralling situation.

Government must change the lawto raise the minimum age for puppies to be imported into the UK to a minimum of six months to make them less desirable to buy and sell, and introduce tougher penalties for smuggling.

With every day of delay more innocent puppies will continue to pay the price.

Owen Sharp, CEO at Dogs Trust, Clarissa Baldwin House, 17 Wakley St, London EC1V 7RQ

Sorry, readers

I owe the readers of Wokingham. Today an apology. I wrote last week about how Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling Conservatives has failed its residents has beena concern of mine for someyears now.

At my third attempt at a Motionto Council I made many points but my key concern was that the current way the council does business has failed.

To rectify this the Council must change as our residents deserve better but it seems that serving our residents better is not a Conservative aim.

It was pointed out to me later that the Mayor and his Deputy (both Conservatives) abstained for the vote so my comment was misleading when I said the Conservative Councillors voted to reject the motion. To them I apologise for my unintended error.

To get the facts right I can say all the Lib Dems, Labour and Independent Councillors present (22 in total) voted in a named vote to support of the motion but the following Councillors (all 27 Conservative) voted against and the motion which was defeated.

Not forgetting the two Conservatives (Mayor Malcolm Richards and his deputy Keith Baker) who abstained.

The Conservatives who voted down the motion were the following; Councillors Parry Batth, Laura Blumenthal, Chris Bowring, Jenny Cheng, Ullakarin Clark, Michael Firmanger, Charlotte Haitham Taylor,John Halsall, Pauline Helliar Symons, Emma Hobbs, Graham Howe, Pauline Jorgensen, John Kaiser, Dianne, King, Abdul Loyes, Charles Margetts, Ken Miall, Stuart Munro, Gregor Murray, Barrie Patman, Angus Ross, Daniel Sargeant, Chris Smith, Wayne, Smith, Bill Soane, Alison swaddle and Simon Weeks.

To sum up after 20 continuous years of Conservatives rule in Wokingham their nasty party ideology and political doctrines still come before our residents needs.

The only thing they will truly understand is where one puts their X on the ballot paper next May.

Anyone but a Conservative is the only thing they will fully understand.

Cllr Gary Cowan, Independent Borough Councillor for Arborfield at Wokingham Borough Council

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