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 letters@thekmgroup.co.uk

ULEZ charge would benefit our towns

I read the Paul Francis column about the Ultra Low Emission Zone charge in London with interest because it raises the issue of taking money from financially hard-pressed drivers of old vehicles, versus cutting harmful emissions on the streets of London.

He rightly identified the reason why the Labour Party lost the Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election in Boris Johnson’s constituency, despite the Conservatives trailing behind in the opinion polls, was that the Conservative Party exploited opposition to the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s, proposed extension of the ULEZ charge to Outer London boroughs like Uxbridge and Ruislip. So it became an issue of cutting emissions versus the political expediency of not cutting emissions because support would lead to a loss of votes.

What makes this interesting is that Paul Francis identifies that: ‘The extension of ULEZ has a direct impact on those parts of Kent that adjoin London and a clutch of target seats are in a range where drivers having to pay a hefty daily charge if they cross over into the capital’. He, no doubt, had in mind the Outer London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley which were in Kent up to 1965.

What makes this intriguing is that the quality of air in the towns of Ashford, Canterbury, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells has been reported as having levels of carbon monoxide similar to the capital. In addition, the Kentish towns of Maidstone, Rochester, Canterbury and Dartford have been shown to have heightened levels of benzene, which is thought to be a human carcinogen. What this means is that, in future, the local governments of these towns would not consider imposing ULEZ charges to protect the health of their citizens, for fear of losing votes in local government elections.

Oh dear. What a situation we find ourselves in. Sadly, If it was a choice between political expediency and protecting Kent town dwellers from harmful pollution, there is no question of doing the right thing. In 2023, it is a foregone conclusion that political expediency will win out every time.

John Cooper

‘Safe routes’ for migrants won’t work

Mr Cooper is right to express pride in the genuine refugees Britain has accepted from Ukraine, Syria and those who courageously worked with us in Afghanistan.

But he continues to confuse the issue of ‘safe routes’, whether those routes or any new ones, with stopping the crisis over small boats.

The UN has identified 29 million people worldwide as refugees, under the UNHCR mandate and a further six million under the UNRWA mandate. Tens of millions more would pass the asylum test if they applied. So any new routes that Britain established could take only a minute proportion of those eligible. They would also, rightly, be focused on vulnerable categories. None of that would stop the flow of young men across the Channel.

Perhaps Mr Cooper thinks that the solution is to set up a new safe route in France, rather than in the proximity to the countries of origin as we normally do. Such a route would then select from the pool of people who had made the illegal crossing from Africa or Asia to Europe and, as word got round, it would rapidly boost the numbers on those more dangerous crossings.

Ken Clarke, the former Conservative cabinet minister, was so liberal in his views and policies that he was repeatedly attacked by Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw from a more traditional angle. Yet Ken has pointed out that none of the critics of the Rwanda policy has offered any serious alternative to stop the small boats. New ‘safe routes’ are no alternative to providing a place of safety offshore.

Julian Brazier

Many are being excluded from society

In the last few weeks there have been several letters which have drawn unfavourable comparisons between modern life and life as older generations remember.

Though these letters all differ, one common theme is the loss of community spirit and support.

What is lacking in these letters is a consideration of why this should be so. What is the change that led to this level of dissatisfaction?

The concern that I have is for what I can only describe as the growing extent of social cleansing. By this I mean that large sections of the community are gradually being excluded from full participation in social life.

A great many examples can be given.

The increase in car usage and the consequential decline of public transport.

The increase in power of smart phones leading to reductions in staff at supermarket tills and the closure of railway ticket offices.

The increase in medical technology, meaning that hospitals have to be larger, bringing together patients with specific needs and so resulting in hospitals becoming more remote and, for many, inaccessible.

The reduction in NHS services so that elementary needs such as dental hygiene, audiology services and other simple procedures are now only provided on a commercial basis at a cost which many cannot afford.

The whole area of housing development, apartments for those who can afford, serious problems and possibly homelessness for many including young people and families.

The cuts in public services and policies such as the two-child family restriction on child benefit leading to children living in poverty.

The list is endless.

Those affected are young people, pensioners, those with any form of disability, mental or physical health problems and those in low-paid, but often essential, jobs.

In other words, those most in need, those who happen to be in the lower income sector of society.

The government hides behind percentages, small numbers which distract from the fact that large numbers of people are affected. Remember, 1% of the population of England represents half a million people.

Ralph A. Tebbutt

Put caring back into our health service

I am sure like many of my generation, despite the obvious advances within the medical field, I observe a general decline within the caring side of the NHS towards patients, none more so than those who have elected to go on strike.

I shall quote a passage from the Hippocratic Oath: "I will use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgement, I will abstain from harming or wronging any man by it". I think not!

With the push towards private medicine in all sectors of the healthcare industry - the latest recruits being dentists – it concerns me this will lead to unnecessary treatment being carried out for profit.

I for one would like to know why doctors and consultants cannot live on salaries ranging between £60,000 and £244,000 a year.

A third of all NHS consultants carry out private work as well and have to seek NHS permission to do so, providing it is not detrimental to patient care. Who is kidding who?

I manage on a State Pension of £12,500.00 a year, in an ever-increasing world of want they will end up chasing their own tails. And even if the pay dispute is settled this year, what of the next?

David Grummitt

Farage would make a better PM

Despite Colin Bullen's brave attempts to explain the workings of government, I can’t agree that he's Prime Minister material.

No, there's only one man for that job, Nigel Farage the only politician to give direct answers to direct questions fired at him by the media.

It’s pathetic to see politicians squirming in front of the cameras and refusing to answer a simple question with a 'yes' or a 'no' or even confess that they don't know what the answer is.

A national leader needs to be someone with clear policies they are prepared to stick to. It's not surprising that people have no one to vote for, as party aims seem to change on a daily basis.

All I ask of a leader is someone who is not necessarily always right but has honesty and integrity and is dedicated to serving the people and not just themselves.

Nigel knows a bit about mickles and muckles and would probably make a better fist of the UK finances than the current cabinet.

Blustering Boris promised us that, if we got Brexit done, England's borders would once again be as secure as they were during World War Two. That went well didn't it?

Pete Trow

Constant moaning about Brexit

What a silly letter from Robert Boston, littered with arrogant sarcasm disguised as praise for his own self-absorbed effort in finding an alleged benefit of Brexit, which in itself is disingenuous because he has not spent the years since 2016 searching ‘tirelessly’ for any benefits of Brexit. What he has been doing is seven years of continual moaning.

As for his puerile attempt to blame Brexit for the reduction in soap sales, it can easily be dismissed as they have been quite understandably declining ever since the Covid pandemic sent them soaring, because millions of us took washing, showering and bathing to almost obsessive levels every day. Still, his skewed thinking never allows the facts to get in the way of another opportunity to continue his Brexit-bashing agenda.

Not even once has he told readers what purpose he thinks he is serving by constantly berating Brexit and several weeks ago he was asked what he believed the alternative to Brexit should be, but on that too he has remained silent. No alternative solutions offered, just persistent negativity.

C. Aighgy

Stop the panic over climate change

It is a matter of concern that youngsters are being reported as suffering from depression, and even in some cases feeling suicidal, because of the alarmist propaganda concerning climate change with which they are bombarded, both at school and by the media.

From biblical times those who warned of the end of the world have always been with us, in the past based on religion, including those cults who convinced their followers to commit mass suicide, while the years of the Cold War also caused extreme reactions. One awful account from 1957 concerned parents who murdered their three children, and then killed themselves, in order to protect their offspring from dying in a nuclear war. If this couple had not allowed themselves to be panicked by the nonsense peddled by appeasers such as CND their children might still be alive.

The slogan adopted by the current doom-mongers is Save the Planet, which is completely preposterous, as, barring some cosmic catastrophe, Earth will continue to circle the Sun for at least another four billion years. Yet the brainwashing being perpetuated by extreme environmentalists, and tacitly supported by many of the media such as the BBC, is scaring people quite unnecessarily.

Despite the claims of the latter it is quite possible that any warming may be temporary, as it was in the Middle Ages, and may anyway have nothing to do with human activity, while carbon dioxide is a minor component of Earth’s atmosphere (about 0.04 per cent), much of it formed by photosynthesis, and is actually good for plant growth.

We sensibly ignored those obsessives who used to wave placards warning that The End is Nigh, and we should treat the modern version with similar scepticism, not allow them to frighten children with their dire prophecies.

Colin Bullen

Who teaches this stuff?

As entertaining as Mr Bullen’s letters are, it is unfortunate that he promulgates a worldview that is predicated on blaming the urgent problems we all face on state school teachers in his latest diatribe - unless, of course, he believes public schools are responsible for the Marxist “propaganda machine” destroying our nation.

The government has been populated with regular monotony with the alumni of these elitist establishments who do not appear to be terribly leftist in their views. As usual, I’m confident Colin knows best.

Terry Wright

Doubts over Marxist teacher claims

Colin Bullen implies that Marxist teachers have a malign influence over our education system but in the course of my life I have become acquainted with quite a few from that profession, none of whom appear remotely Marxist in their beliefs.

Bill Ridley