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Education standards

THE introduction of grammar schools will both raise education standards and help to increase social mobility among the British working class.

There is a shortage of doctors and nurses in Britain and this shows that the comprehensive system of education has failed the children of Britain.

Changing to a grammar school system would mean that we could train up our own skilled people and avoid all the skill shortages that currently plague the NHS.

This is especially true in Swindon where our primary schools have been ranked as the fourth worst in the country.

TERRY HAYWARD

Burnham Road

Swindon

....

Lack of democracy

I ATTENDED the proposed parish council consultation meeting by Swindon Borough Council at the West Swindon library last Wednesday evening.

This was to discuss the cabinet members proposal for the introduction of a new parish council for this and other areas, to take on some services currently undertaken by the Borough.

This would be paid for by residents in an additional precept on their rates.

Cabinet member Mary Martin chaired the meeting and invited questions from the audience of about 50 people.

For a period extended to one and a half hours, she appeared to me to display stage fright and was unable to succinctly answer the questions put to her. I lost count of the number of ‘ums’.

Clearly the cabinet have already made their decision. If this is plan A, there was certainly no plan B mentioned, should they consider and act on the response from the residents, which may be contrary to theirs.

When asked, we were informed that a referendum to determine what the residents wanted was deemed too expensive.

When it was pointed out that this cost could have been significantly reduced by another ballot box at the relevant polling stations in June during the EU referendum (process already in place and costed) the response was, ‘the cabinet had made its decision’.

An audience generated straw poll voted 98 per cent to reject the parish proposal and wished the opportunity to formerly vote on such.

Bottom line, done deal. Consultation merely going through the motions. What the audience wanted was the opportunity to choose ie democracy.

PETER AMIES

Lineacre Close

Grange Park

Swindon

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The old ones are best

BILL Williams complains of correspondents to your letter pages of “the continual boring political agenda” (SA 22/10/16) and that we should be more jocular.

That’s a bit rich coming from Bill, after years of him and his Kipper cohorts whinging on about the European disunion (lol) for years.

Anyway to get in the spirit of fun that Bill wants and to continue his Tommy Cooper joke about tap dancing...

Did Bill know that I used to have tap dancing lessons but had to give them up?

I kept falling into the sink.

STEVE THOMPSON

Norman Road

Swindon