Our readers from across the county give their weekly take on the biggest issues impacting Kent and beyond.
Some letters refer to past correspondence which can be found by clicking here. Join the debate by emailing [email protected]
Worrying lack of respect for our police
You published the findings of a recent survey which showed that less than one third of Kentish residents think that their police do a good job and there is something deeply worrying in the fact that 66% of us think that our police force isn’t up to scratch.
Stories like those of the dismissed officers certainly make members of the public like me question the rigour of the police recruitment process and wonder if young police officers are being taken on board who previously would have been deemed unsuitable.
It is certainly true that, in our level of dissatisfaction, we are not alone and roughly the same level is reflected across the whole of the country.
Nevertheless, it would be useful to know what steps are being taken to address this parlous situation in our county, particularly as other feedback was equally bad.
Only 36% of the 2,284 people questioned thought the police understood community issues which was 4% below the national average.
Having said that, the one glimmer of hope, if you can call it that, was that 52% of the people felt their police wanted to know about their concerns, which was 3% more than the national average.
As to future improvements in the public perception of our police, Det Ch Supt Shaun White has said to those who took part in the survey that he could assure them their views will be acted upon. I would like to know exactly what he proposes to do.
When I was a teenager in the 1960s, we looked forward every Saturday night to Dixon of Dock Green, set in a fictional London police station. Crimes were solved by common sense and as far as we were concerned there was no discordance between what we saw on our screens and the real police on our streets.
Of course in reality, police work was nothing like this fiction but the fact is that the police across the country at that time were respected by the majority of people and since then that respect, for complex reasons, has evaporated.
Today, 50 years later, I’d like to brush aside my scepticism and believe that Shaun White and his force can restore our faith in them.
John Cooper
Spend your extra 25p wisely…
Talking with a friend who has just turned 80 years of age, I commented that he can really ‘let-rip’ with their extra 25p a week added to the state pension.
Yes, this is not a printing error, an extra insulting 25p per week is added to your state pension when you turn 80.
First introduced in 1971 by the Ted Heath Tory government, when the state pension was around £6 per week, it did not seem so bad.
Fast forward 53 years and 13 Prime Ministers later, there has been no change in the payment.
We might have had a couple of ‘coalition’ governments but the same ‘see-saw’ of two parties and nobody has been interested in increasing this payment?
So if we want to see real change in political thinking and not just a rehash of morally bankrupt ‘established’ politically parties, voters need some ‘blue-sky’ thinking!
Terry Hudson
Immigration and high taxes not the answer
The government does not have a clue about how to solve this country’s economic problems.
It believes that it can solve these problems by building houses everywhere, maintaining high levels of immigration, increasing taxation and printing money.
True these may increase our GDP but will not make us richer on a per capita basis. To make the country richer, we need to export more, import less and improve productivity.
Building houses is not the answer because raw materials will be imported whereas the finished product cannot be exported. It will not even solve the crisis of affordable housing since only a small proportion are required to be (supposedly) affordable.
Also, the loss of agricultural land means that the proportion of food grown domestically will continue to decrease and food imports will have to increase.
Immigration is not the answer. The supply of cheap labour discourages automation which would increase productivity. In recent years of high immigration, the population has increased faster than GDP so productivity has decreased on a per capita basis. Consequently, we have been getting poorer and have a shortage of affordable housing.
Increasing taxes and printing money improves the government’s revenues but does not make the country richer and severely affects those on fixed incomes. However, inflation does depreciate the government’s debts (except those held in foreign currencies). Consequently, the government, but not the country, benefits from increased inflation and taxes.
Derek Wisdom
No fuel price fears for those with free clothes
Yet again this government, which should be acting on behalf of the British people, turns to ‘bashing the pensioners’ again.
Weeks after my previous letter regarding the loss of the winter fuel payment, we now have a 10% increase in the price of fuel. What else can they do to make sure pensioners and others die this winter, not only of being cold but with stress and worry?
Price increases make no difference to those in power, they even benefit from ‘perks’ such as free clothes.
As a historian, I refer to a letter written by that great Englishman, Robert Falcon Scott, when he and his companions perished on their return from the South Pole in 1912.
When the rescue party found their bodies months later, a letter written by Scott in the last moments of his life was found. In praising his entire team who went with him to the pole he ended with these words that might just impress those in government: “For God’s sake look after our people”.
Robin J. Brooks
Where next for the Tories?
The new resident in No10 lost no time in accusing the previous government of leaving a mess for his party to ‘clean up.’
But the shoe was on the other foot when the Tories came to power in 2010 and were informed by the outgoing government that there was, ‘no money left.’
It’s probably too early to talk about the next election but it’s a safe bet that whichever party wins – provided it’s not another term for the existing party – the blame game will resurface.
Kemi Badenoch, one of the contenders for the leadership crown, recently warned that the Conservatives are no longer the natural party of government and may soon not ever be the main opposition party.
This, to me, suggests the Tories have fallen so far from favour that they will have made room for another more credible political party to take its place.
Reform UK seem an obvious candidate since it is gathering momentum in popularity. According to a new poll, more than 53% of Conservative members want the party to merge with Reform UK but Nigel Farage has made it abundantly clear that his party doesn’t intend to form an alliance with the Tories.
Michael Smith
Many countries take more asylum seekers
Sid Anning asks: why didn’t the asylum seekers stop in safe countries such as France, Italy, Greece and Spain?
Good question – the answer is that more than one million did.
Last year, European Union countries received 1.1 million asylum applications. Germany received the lion’s share – 329,035; Spain: 160,460; France 145,095 and Italy 130,565. The UK received 67,337. France, Spain and Italy received roughly double the number compared to us and Germany received five times as many.
We need not worry that we are becoming the Red Cross of Europe, let alone of the world.
We have a long way to go in terms of doing our share, relative to our size and economy. If Germany is in the heavy-weight class, we are in the feather-weight class.
The fact that some UK asylum applicants will have passed through other European countries, does not turn them into ‘economic migrants’. A person fleeing armed conflict or persecution is allowed by international law to seek protection in any safe country.
They must provide evidence and endure a rigorous interview process to establish their authenticity.
Those who apply to the UK commonly do so because they speak English or have relatives here, or believe they will more easily assimilate into UK society.
With further deaths in the Channel the past week, the most pressing issue for our government is how to provide safe passage for genuine refugees.
Joy Stephens
Fears over plans for assisted dying
I am deeply concerned about the assisted dying bill. Once passed it will be in place for generations to come.
Already compassion in this country for the elderly is in short supply and when finances are tight they suffer.
So what next? A healthcare system which removes treatment for the over 80s with the commonly heard remark “well if you feel so unwell you can choose to end your life and then there will be no more pain!”
Laws are not passed just for this government and no one can be sure that they would not be misused in the future.
All that is necessary is to say that our country needs to make hard financial decisions and unfortunately we cannot afford to spend any more money on the elderly! I suppose it will also be expected to save money on research for cures since the alternative will be there.
Both my mother and my husband had good NHS palliative care and a peaceful death, so it is possible.
Patricia Papa
‘Progressives’ have helped fanatics
Much of the blame for the perilous situation existing in the Middle East can be attributed to the naive, liberal, so-called progressives in the West who, in 1979, were so vociferous in calling for the overthrow of the Shah in Iran.
He was far from perfect but the theocratic regime which then replaced him has proved much worse. These fanatics have armed and supported terrorists throughout the Middle East, oppress the women in their own country and call for a genocide of the Jewish people.
They leave Israel no choice but to use force in order to prevent a second Holocaust of the Jewish people.
The very real possibility of a major war can be traced back to the virtue-signalling ignoramuses who led the way in creating a regime which threatens us all.
Colin Bullen
PM’s acts of self-harm
Until Keir Starmer got his foot in the door of No 10, I had always believed that, whatever their political persuasion, Britain’s Prime Ministers had the best interests of our country at heart.
But quite how gifting sovereignty over the British Overseas Territory of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius – China’s best friend in the Indian Ocean – can be regarded as in our best interests is beyond comprehension.
This act of national self-harm has been compounded by the fact that in an interview following the announcement, Starmer refused to guarantee the future of the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and other British Overseas Territories – which has already given impetus to sabre-rattling by Argentina and Spain.
If I were a Falklander or a Gibraltarian, I would now be extremely concerned for the future of my home.
I think we may safely assume it is Starmer’s intention to get rid of the last few remaining jewels in the crown at the earliest opportunity.
Bob Readman
No energy to dispose of litter?
Walking the lanes of Kent, one can litters the countryside more than any other.
There are at least twice as many cans of Red Bull winking and flashing in the verges and hedgerows as any other (I know, I pick them up.)
What is the magic ingredient in this drink which particularly attracts selfish morons with no eye for beauty whatsoever?
Red Bull claims to be an energy drink. Yet the twits who throw their cans out of their car windows don’t have the energy to take their glinty litter home.
Peers Carter
