PLEASE keep your letters to 250 words maximum giving your name, address and daytime telephone number - even on emails. Email: letters@swindonadvertiser.co.uk. Write: Swindon Advertiser, 100 Victoria Road, Swindon, SN1 3BE. Phone: 01793 501806.

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Charges reasonable

First of all John Stevens (Letters, July 15), as a resident of Royal Wootton Bassett you make no contribution to the Swindon Borough council tax.

Secondly, you refer to the many groups of young women with their children all enjoying themselves.

You infer “a very large proportion are one-parent families”.

From where do you obtain this information? Mothers may be on their own as fathers are at their place of work.

Better and cheaper to take children to a place of fresh air rather than a cinema where admission prices certainly exceed a £2 parking charge for a car.

Thirdly, “The old lady who likes to take her little dog for a 10-minute walk every day, now she is going to be charged £2 a time for this privilege”.

In this case I feel sorry for the dog, walkies five minutes in one direction and then turn around for the five-minute walk back to the car. Unlikely to have any chance to meet or make friends with fellow species, not much enjoyment.

Or would it be a chance for the owner to let the dog discreetly have a poo rather than in their own garden, without the owner picking it up?

An annual season ticket is £45 which is the equivalent to free parking after just over three weeks use.

Compare that with other forms of entertainment charges for a year.

Finally, I would assure Mr Stevens that much soul searching was done by ‘decision makers’.

I know for, as one of the councillors for Lydiard and Freshbrook until May of this year when I retired after 10 years, I was consulted and took some persuading that such charges were necessary.

After all, money does not grow on trees, not even on the wonderful specimens on Lydiard Park.

MICK BRAY

Leven, Freshbrook

Swindon

....

An impressive start

EARLY days for Theresa May, but I have been impressed by her bringing back to the fore David Davis, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox – all British exit supporters.

The rout of the out of touch with reality, the Notting Hill chattering liberal elite classes has delighted me.

They are as likely to have ever entered a Job Centre as I have of booking a week at London’s Lanesborough Hotel at £2,500 a night.

They have as much chance of ever having to do a hard day’s work, as a tortoise has of doing a four-minute mile.

Apparently, ‘Tenacious’ Theresa does not take prisoners. To see the man who should have been our Prime Minister, David Davis, ignored by Cameron for high office was a disgrace. Davis against Junker and his cabal of self-interested line-their-pockets at public expense charlatans.

The ex-SAS reservist versus Claude’s Clod Hoppers will be a joy for public perusal.

Boris, the comeback king, love him or hate him, he is a vote winner and does not talk down to ordinary people – something Cameron was renowned for, even with his own MPs.

Liam Fox is a man with worldwide trade connections and will do Britain proud in trading across the globe.

Last but not least, would the tears on their pillow brigade, whining and wailing on these pages against the democratic will of the British people join us in working together to make this country great again.

BILL WILLIAMS

Merlin Way

Covingham, Swindon

....

Big cheer for Boris

BORIS, welcome back to the Brexit campaign. You are our inspiration. We know that you will guard our borders with pride.

It is great news for all Brexiteers that Boris is to be the new Foreign Secretary.

Can we send a big thank you to Theresa May for bringing back Boris Johnson into frontline politics again.

Boris puts a smile on everybody’s face.

TERRY HAYWARD

Burnham Road, Swindon

....

Time to watch out

BORIS as Foreign Minister?

Time to get on Amazon and order my do-it-yourself nuclear shelter!

I assume they sell them?

JEFF ADAMS

Bloomsbury, Swindon

....

Cameron’s legacy

I NOTICE that in Justin Tomlinson’s latest column of magnificent boot-licking prose, he states that our former Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, will be remembered as a leader with a record of “proud achievement”.

Could I also add the following achievements he somehow forgot to mention?

The growth of foodbanks, the closure of Sure Start centres, uncontrolled imposition of Universal Credit, disastrous intervention in Libya, instigating the potential demise of the United Kingdom.

And, last but not least, alienating half the population following a needless, stupid and ill-conceived referendum.

GED MEHERAN

Goddard Avenue, Swindon

....

Now scrap sugar tax

WHEN George Osborne stood up in Parliament in March to announce the sugar tax, the prospect of Brexit was remote.

The political dynamics have changed since then. Many businesses are facing months of uncertainty, and the sugar tax is adding to this.

We know that the inflationary impact of the sugar tax will mean an extra £1bn of national debt interest, UK pension funds will be £3bn worse off, and we also think that £250m will need to be spent on uprating index-linked benefits because of the sugar tax.

It is an unfair tax on poorer households, is unhelpful for businesses, and will do little to reduce obesity.

We call on the new chancellor to take account of the new political environment and scrap it.

LARA EVANS

People Against Sugar Tax

London