Unemployed trickery

The MP for North Swindon is at it again (SA 20 December), this time it’s unemployment and it’s all Labour’s fault. That’s a bit rich coming from a Tory whose party is often called the ‘party of unemployment’, (a truth, not a myth).

Let’s look at its history from 1945, the year when Labour had its first majority government, previous to that we had the 1930s, mostly under Tory administration, with its high unemployment and dire poverty, followed by six years of WW2 and a country that was already insolvent.

For a few years after the war, with many thousands of servicemen being demobbed and many more thousands entering the forces, unemployment figures were hard to gauge. Between 1950 and 1959, the average unemployment was 2.5 per cent. From 1960 to 1969 it was 2.7 per cent and during 1970 to 1979 it was 4.4 per cent.

Of course, the government of Edward Heath (1970-4) with his three day weeks and a fivefold oil increase did not help. In 1979 and the election of a Tory government under Margaret Thatcher, unemployment was under 1 million, fifteen months later it was 3.25 million and remained over 3 million until 1986 when it peaked with unemployment at 11.3 per cent.

Even in London and the south east it was 8.6 per cent. It improved for a few years but was back over 3 million by 1990 and still 2 and a quarter million in 1997. Back to under a million in 2001 until the credit crunch in 2008-9 and around the present number in 2010, but are the present numbers true?

There are so many ways to hide numbers and it won’t be a Tory first. Remember 1990; it was incapacity benefit then and now it’s part time working and zero hours!

M J Warner Groundwell Road Swindon

Tree will be missed

Why is the glorious copper beech tree in the square in Old Town to be felled and a nasty flat roofed building to take its place?

I hope the clock will be resited in the clock tower on the Corn Exchange so that we can hear it chiming again.

Mrs M Johnston Corby Avenue Swindon

Where is this unity?

To reply to the letters from Mr Cartwright and Mr Webb, I can only add the following.

If he thinks only Mrs Thatcher sold off commodities, then he should have a rethink, British Nuclear Fuels comes to mind for one and if they had got their way, the Port of Dover, would also have been added to the list. To also say about unity, he should take a trip to S Africa now, and see if it is the lovely state he thinks it is, remember, the leader is under corruption charges for using thousands of rands, to build himself a mansion, when his people, live like tramps.

If Mr Webb thinks life in Israel is a ball, then it’s no wonder they are like they are, when in the last week, two Israelites have been killed by sniper fire from Gaza. Does he think the African states of the CAR and the likes of Sudan and Mali, are lovely under 'democratic' ' leadership, of people who wake up each morning, either killing each other or those who try to install some form of normal life.

They want to read my earlier letter, where I said, that rule by such segregation is not good for the people but at least it did keep the country on a sound footing, since 1994, the rand has gone down in value by about 48% I wonder if Mr Webb, will go, with his left wing ideals, and solve the problems of the African states.

T Reynolds Wheeler Avenue Swindon

Problem is upon us

My fellow correspondent, Steve Thompson, introduces yet another interesting definition of racism by suggesting that identifying a specific nationality when discussing immigration is racist (SA 15 December). His example makes it clear that an oblique reference to people from Romania is acceptable whereas a reference to Romanians from Romania is not. It is an interesting play on words, one which might well be considered an elegant piece of sophistry.

Six months ago the Prime Minister told Parliament that the Immigration Bill was the centrepiece of the Government’s legislative programme. Sadly, as is the way with politicians of this age, the fine words have produced little action and no results. The Immigration Bill is mired in the slurry of the Parliamentary cesspit. Among the fine words of the Prime Minister was a promise that the bill would end the legacy of Labour which was that immigrants “could come to this country and expect something for nothing”. So much for his assurance as we know his government has stupendously failed to match words with deeds.

Various ideas are now being floated for limiting movement of EU nationals, ideas which the Lib Dems have identified as being illegal under current EU rules. The reality is that only by leaving the EU can any move be made to significantly limit immigration.

From this month Bulgarian and Romanian nationals have free access to travel to the UK – many social commentators suggest that as all EU countries will be open to the people of these two countries, the effect of any mass immigration will be spread evenly between all members of the EU. It will be interesting to analyse the efficacy of such claims – sadly by the time the immigration figures are compiled it will be too late, the problem will already be in our midst.

Des Morgan Caraway Drive Swindon

What a wedding pair

This is a true wedding and one which should be worthy of a entry into the Swindon Advertiser wedding couple of the year. Hayley Savory her future husband Will and her father Gary did not ask for anything from anyone, just the chance to be able to be together on the day of this happy couples big day and offers of help from total strangers and Swindon business people who are stepping up and helping a couple who deserve it.

I salute you all, well done.

John Crook Haydon Wick Swindon

Hope for new party

It was about a year ago that a former RAF pilot, Will Gilpin, was appointed by UKIP to improve their image and make the party sound and look more professional. His remit was to “deal with the inertia of a party that is used to doing things in a very relaxed, very uncoordinated manner”.

It is now several months ago that Will Gilpin threw in the towel and, according to the BBC, the party suggested that Mr Gilpin had struggled to adapt to working at a smaller organisation whose “DNA is individualistic”.

Certainly the party has become notorious for some of its individuals but evidently even they have to conform to an inflexibility that is slowly breaking the party apart.

One of the most notable defections was that of UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass who objected to the party allying itself to extreme right wing factions within the European Parliament. MEP Marta Andreasen left the party, MEP Nikki Sinclaire became an independent and one of the South West MEPs, Trevor Coleman, who is not standing this year, quit Nigel Farage’s extremist pan EU political EFD group, “to better represent UKIP and his constituents’’. Like its suspect EFD allegiance the party has become more and more totalitarian during the last year and this was made manifest in the recent selection of MEPs and complaints of gerrymandering.

As a result Mike Nattrass MEP became an Independent before being urged by wavering UKIP supporters in the Midlands to form a new centralist Eurosceptic party. This has now been officially recognised as an independent party.

There is increasing optimism that this new party, which has already attracted many experts and activists, will exceed what Will Gilpin was tasked to do but had little chance of getting off the ground.

David Smith Herschell Road Exeter