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

Voters want clean air but not ULEZ

I note that John Cooper thinks that protection from harmful pollution is being lost to political expediency because of resistance to the expansion of ULEZ.

I would challenge this, as the political expediency referred to is the gaining or retention of votes by reflecting the voters’ wishes in their proposals. I believe that the majority of those voting against ULEZ actually support the need to reduce pollution but cannot support this particular method.

It is said in support of ULEZ that 90% of vehicles in London are actually compliant. Why then the persecution of the remaining 10%?

The most polluting vehicles are already highly taxed and so is the fuel they use. The majority of vehicles doing a high mileage, and therefore the most polluting, will soon be replaced anyway. The scrappage scheme is divisive and is affecting the second-hand market.

So in my view the voters supported scrapping an unfair scheme, and are not necessarily against the idea of cleaning up the air we breathe.

These were the voters’ wishes but as usual in politics it does not look as if it will have any effect.

Brian Barnard

Pollution charge would kill off town centres

Mr Cooper suggests an extension to the ULEZ scheme would benefit towns in Kent. It certainly would reduce emissions in these towns but not for the reasons he believes.

People would avoid going to the towns for economical reasons, not because of health or green issues and to save the planet.

Should these measures be introduced, it would hasten the demise of shops and businesses within these areas and they would become ghost towns.

To give an example, my wife went to Canterbury to visit some shops and her parking charge was £9.00. If she had to pay a further £12.50 to enter the city, she told me she will not go.

Volkswagen was founded in 1937 as part of Adolf Hitler's vision to enable every German family to own a car. Why not, if the government is serious about greenhouse gases, offer every household the opportunity to lease or buy an electric vehicle at a substantially reduced rate, or long-term fixed interest rate?

If you really care about emissions Mr Cooper did you know aviation is the fastest growth source of greenhouse gases, one longhaul flight equates to 14% of your annual emissions in your car. What really drives me mad are people like Donald Trump - a whole airliner just for him – and well known celebrities that fly in from the States for a single event; because they can!

I bet most would not know that the fact a cruise ship emits more carbon per passenger kilometre than flying. The government should promote train travel – believe it or not, 73% less in carbon footfall.

I shudder to think, having been a car owner for over 50 years, how much I have paid government in fuel duty and road tax. Don't penalise those that can ill afford this levy but be proactive and help motorists make the change.

David Grummitt

Mayor put people before politics

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has proved me wrong. Despite my view that, as a politician, when faced with the prospect of losing Labour voters if he extended his Ultra Low Emission Zone from Central London to Greater London boroughs, then he wouldn’t go ahead, he’s going to do just that.

He is to be congratulated for holding his nerve and not bowing to pressure from Sir Keir Starmer to stop the extension and for putting the health of Londoners first.

The action of Sadiq Khan is a shining example of what should be done in heavily polluted towns in Kent.

John Cooper

We’re burying our heads in the sand

The article by Paul Francis refers to the Conservative result in the Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election. An election at this stage in a government’s is usually fought on the record of the last few years, but this time they focused on a single issue, clean air and its effect on health in our capital city, especially children's’ health.

Having seen their election literature, it made very little of the Tories’ record in government or their policies of the past four years at all, it was full of details of ULEZ, all in bright technicolour.

So although they made much of the effect ULEZ would have on owners of cars built before 2008, they made very little of the effect poisonous car and van exhaust gases have on people, especially children who suffer from asthma and adults with C.O.P.D.

We all have to face the fact that if we chose to live in a big town we have to provide protection for everyone, in whatever way we can. Burying our heads in the sand and telling each other it is not our fault is no longer possible.

Derek Munton

Dethrone these woke elitists

The reaction of the liberal elite, and their supporters in the media, to the disgraceful treatment of Nigel Farage, has not only lifted the lid on a can of worms but also made clear that they are lacking in intelligence.

To target a man who not only has his own programme on a TV channel, but also writes regularly in major newspapers, and is enthusiastically supported by large numbers of people outside the metropolitan ivory tower in which they live, was certain to end in tears for them. What they have been doing to thousands of innocent bank customers in secret has now been exposed for all to see and even this weak-kneed government has been spurred into taking action.

If these people had any sense they would realise that they are setting a precedent which could be followed by their opponents.

Of course it has long been clear that these acolytes of the religion of woke live in their own little world of groupthink, and have absolutely no idea about reality. They still support membership of that epitome of bureaucratic dictatorship, the European Union; their advocacy of net zero carbon emissions is increasingly being challenged by those who can see that to pauperise ourselves in the name of an unproven theory is insane.

Perhaps the most deranged policy of all is that which insists that biological fact is fiction, so that they sacrifice the rights so hard won by feminists to accommodate the demands of a tiny minority.

These people are arrogant, yet unfortunately currently possess the power to enforce their madness on an unwilling populace. We can only hope that the crusade initiated by Nigel will turn the tide, dethrone these elitists, and restore sanity to our affairs.

Colin Bullen

Take energy into public ownership

Once again reading these pages, I find letters that are not only misguided but plainly wrong.

There are very good reasons to be afraid of both climate change and nuclear warfare. Colin Bullen is quite correct when he says that planet Earth will survive for many billions of years whatever we do. That is not the issue.

The fact is that the way that the temperature of the earth and the oceans are increasing means that areas of the earth will become inhabitable for the human species. That is scientific fact.

Colin is wrong when he says that carbon dioxide is formed in photosynthesis. Plants emit carbon dioxide through respiration (breathing) just as we do.

Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and use it to produce carbohydrates which are an essential part of the food chain.

As your correspondent, John Cooper, ends his letter, ‘the choice is between political expediency and doing the right thing’. The latest action by government to approve the extension of oil and gas fields shows how little government cares about the future of humanity.

This is a clear example not only of political expediency but also of giving priority to commercial gain, namely for the oil companies. These companies have made it clear that they will not invest in renewable energy unless they can make a profit. As if the exorbitant profits that they have recently declared are not enough for them.

The only solution for this is for the energy companies to be taken into public ownership, thereby making energy a public service thus benefitting the whole community.

Ralph A. Tebbutt

Right to be alarmed over climate

Colin Bullen points out damage to people's mental health over climate concern but the fact is everyone is right to do so, given the worsening weather events we continue to see around the world and lack of action.

It's very sad that in 1957 the family he mentioned committed suicide over fears over nuclear weapons use, but then blames CND which was only set up in the same year following widespread concerns about such and the ongoing tests.

In a democratic society, people had every right to be concerned and to set up such groups to campaign about it. It's a pity that the family concerned may not have been aware of CND as they could have joined, so providing an outlet for their worries.

As for man-made climate change, we've seen losses and damage from worsening heat, fires, floods and storms, etc, in 2023 so far.

Any wonder that people are rightly concerned. In the UK recent surveys show that 71% of people are very or somewhat concerned and similar figures acknowledge that it is man's fault. Slightly lower numbers agree that our government is doing far too little about it.

He again wheels out those old canards about the past warm periods, but these were localised events around the world, not global in nature, and all at pre-industrial CO2 levels.

Natural systems and biodiversity, already also damaged by our activities, have been made worse and are breaking down alongside the worsening weather.

If Mr Bullen refuses to accept such that's his problem, the rest of us will continue to urge greater actions.

Ray Duff

Not everyone likes Farage

It is not inconceivable, as Pete Trow states, that Nigel Farage would be an effective Prime Minister but the fact remains that he is very unlikely to ever obtain this position as his hard right populist agenda has only limited appeal to the public at large.

Bill Ridley