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

Farage delight at prospect of Musk's millions

The American multibillionaire Elon Musk spent $250 million to help Donald Trump to get re-elected as President of the United States.

Although he himself is chosen by no one but president-in-waiting Trump, he has been given an important job in the new administration.

However, his political ambitions do not end there and you can be assured that he has plans to use his money to meddle in the politics of other countries.

He has already raised concern in Germany after appearing to endorse its far-right anti-immigration party, Alternative für Deutschland, on his social media platform, ‘X’.

Here in Britain, the government needs to be on its guard because Musk has already promised support for our own anti-immigration party, Reform UK. In the 2024 General Election period, total donations for all political parties totalled about £50 million and if reports are to be believed, he is considering giving £80 million to Reform.

By law, UK parties are limited to spending £54,000 per constituency in the 12 months leading to an election. However, outside the election period, Musk’s millions could go a long way towards amplifying the voice on social media of Reform UK’s charismatic leader, Nigel Farage, who at the moment must be rubbing his hands together in expectation.

This is due to the fact that Farage has said, after a meeting, that Musk is giving “serious thought” to bankrolling his party.

Not unsurprisingly, this prospect has been met with alarm inside the Labour government with sources suggesting that it “would not be within the spirit of existing party funding rules and highlighted the need first legislation to be tightened up”.

It is clear that the government does this as a matter of extreme urgency. Against the background of recent political history with six prime ministers in succession over a short period of time, the last thing Britain needs in its recovery and return to stability under the Starmer government is someone like Elon Musk throwing a spanner in the works.

Clearly, everything should be done to keep the Musk millions from perverting our political system.

John Cooper

State of NHS to blame for ‘inactivity’

I am astonished at the audacity of Shadow Chancellor and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, when he recently criticised the Labour government's proposals 'Get Britain Working'.

Labour has proposed a plan after five months in government whereas Mel Stride's own plan, which he announced late in 2023, came about after the Conservatives had been in government for over 13 years.

He claims that his plan would have taken 400,000 disabled people off long-term benefits saving billions from the welfare bill. He does not mention the internal Department of Work and Pensions figures, released in a recent High Court case regarding the legality of the scheme's consultation process, which predicted that his proposals would throw 100,000 people into absolute poverty.

He mentions 'the worrying trend' of 'people falling out of the workplace due to health problems or disability'. In fact, the number of people inactive for health reasons was 2.8 million at the end of 2023 - a rise of more than 200,000 on the year and a jump of 700,000 since before the Covid pandemic.

Worryingly, Britain has gone from being the G7 country with the lowest levels of inactivity to the one where, uniquely, the workforce has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Could it be that the reason for this is the dire state of the NHS? This is a health service starved of funds particularly from 2010-2020 when the average growth was only 1.5%, whereas the average growth of the NHS since its inception has been 3.3% and growth under the previous Labour government was 3.6%.

Relative to similar countries, this resulted in fewer doctors and nurses, the second worst life expectancy, higher than average fatality rates for heart attacks, below average survival rates for commonly occurring cancers, fewer CT and MRI scanners than the other countries, and the second lowest number of hospital beds.

This and the strikes by consultants, junior doctors, nurses and paramedics has resulted in a waiting list of 7.6 million people. Is it any wonder that with a waiting list of this size, 2.8 million people are 'inactive'?

Mike Baldwin

Prison an insult to murder victims’ families

I fully concur with Bob Readman (letters last week) when he expressed his desire to see capital punishment restored.

I firmly believe this is a just penalty for those who take another human being's life.

Locking up murderers behind prison walls to be fed and cared for by the state is an affront to the victims’ loved ones and reflects a base indifference towards them.

It only serves to lessen the gravity of the crime and consequently, worsens the pain and anguish felt by the families bereaved.

Our justice system is profoundly skewed when it comes to administering justice.

Michael Smith

We shouldn’t still be relying on charity

How attitudes change: The generation that grew up between the two world wars hated charity; they saw it as a means by which the rich absolved themselves from responsibility for the plight of those unable to find work and for those for whom wages were too low.

By giving a small amount, the rich could maintain and expand their own wealth.

Now charity has become the alternative to taxation for funding the basic necessities of life for a great many people. Much of our social provision is provided by volunteers and through charitable organisations. These organisations are becoming larger and increasingly become more like business organisations.

This is not to criticise those who volunteer or those who donate. But it is to question the ethos of a society in which highly profitable companies consider it more important to maintain their profits than to pay wages and salaries that enable workers and their families to meet their needs.

What is true at a national level is also true on an international scale. Developing countries need support to develop their own economies and meet their own needs.

We should be calling for a society which respects all people and enables them to develop their skills and abilities and to live fulfilled lives.

A fair taxation system on income and wealth, related to ability to pay, would enable the services that people need to be provided thereby removing the need for charity.

Ralph A. Tebbutt

Song ban shows BBC bias

Nothing better illustrates the fact that the BBC is still just as left-wing biased, as it has been ever since Blair and his New Labour apparatchiks packed its boardroom with left-wing extremists, as the fact that it has banned Dean Ager’s very clever parody ‘Freezing This Christmas’ by Starmer and the Granny Harmers from the airwaves.

It is really sad to see the BBC, an institution that was once widely respected and relied upon around the world for balanced and unbiased covering of news and events, still in the hands of left-wing luvvies and cronies of the government.

Bob Readman

God help us if there’s a war

In 1959 I joined the Royal Navy training establishment of St Vincent at Gosport to do a year’s training. We were taught self-reliance, further education, how to save, be a good citizen and taught how to wash, iron and generally look after ourselves.

I suspect many teenagers today can’t tie up their own shoelaces or wash a shirt, with many even into their twenties and even older relying on good old mum and dad to take care of their needs.

And now I read that Labour wants to give these people a vote. Of course, we all know the reasoning behind this; rigging the voting system to permanently install a Labour government.

On joining the Navy, I was prepared to go to war if needed to protect our country and our way of life, but will the young today? Not on your nelly.

Many are leaving the services and there is a strong possibility of another war. The youngsters of today would rather a foreign body take over their country than fight for self-reliance.

The country is in an appalling position militarily and to be honest I don’t think we could fight our way out of paper bag now.

The answer to this is to bring back compulsory National Service to bolster our military services but you can be sure that many of the youngsters would rather go to prison than be forced to sign up to secure their country’s destiny. It’s all about them rather than protecting our country.

Sid Anning

Put social care urgently back on the agenda

While the article on social care in many respects makes for disturbing reading, it should come as no great surprise as to the parlous position the system finds itself in, both locally and nationally.

For despite its comparatively short tenure in office, the present government shows little sign of changing the course set by the previous administration during its time in charge. Fourteen fruitless years, where the needs of many of the most vulnerable, and especially those with some form of disability, were consigned to the very bottom of the political agenda.

From Cameron through to Sunak assurances and promises either reneged on or completely broken, with the most glaring that of Boris Johnson and his so-called "plan" to fix social care once and for all, which turned out to be little more than his headline-grabbing customary waffle.

Now we look for something different. For signs of a fresh approach with new ideas to tackle the ever-increasing problems. But we find scant cause for hope and optimism.

So perhaps the new MPs in Kent should be politely reminded that social care is an integral part of the NHS and it matters.

Their thoughts would be welcomed and views on how they see social care not being allowed to slip further off the government radar.

Admittedly the task is immense, but until the nettle is grasped and courage and conscience take precedence over never-ending excuses, and constant carping about cost, social care is destined to remain an unhealthy blot on this country's landscape, for which the likes of Starmer, Badenoch and numerous others should be thoroughly ashamed.

Michael Claughton

Cousin marriage ban goes against our values

I would question the motivation for Richard Holden MP’s recent motion in Parliament to prohibit first-cousin marriage.

Whilst genetic risks can be debated, I am greatly concerned about his assertion that in relation to this, the other issues “at stake” are “freedom and our national values”.

Firstly, the risk of genetic disease may increase but according to Dr Eamon Sheridan of Leeds University, “the vast majority of babies born to couples who are blood relatives are absolutely fine, and whilst consanguineous marriage increases the risk of birth defect from 3% to 6%, the absolute risk is still small.”

Let us not forget different groups of people have different genetic risks. Sickle Cell, for example, is predominant in people of African and Caribbean backgrounds with 300 babies being born with the disease every year. Does that mean we should ban black people who carry the gene from getting married or having children? Or what about the well-known harmful effects of smoking? Should we enforce the banning of smoking for women who are pregnant?

Would these not be examples of an interfering nanny state and an infringement of people’s basic rights to choose?

Secondly, by linking cousin marriages to “national values” and “freedom” Mr Holden seems to be laying bare his prejudice that this is a ‘muslim’ problem. It doesn’t bode well that as Conservative Chair, Mr Holden was urged to investigate “structural Islamophobia” within his party last year.

The reality is that Islam does not permit forced marriage and that if the UK attempts to prohibit consanguineous marriage, it is actually going against its own values of the freedom to choose and hold different beliefs.

We need our representatives to engage with us sincerely before making pronouncements which would have profound effects on our lives.

Ms Sultana Bhatti