'This proposal means more cuts'

SIR - So John Campion is looking to build his empire and to take over the running of the Fire Service not just in Hereford and Worcester but also Shropshire and by doing so save £4m.

Well I would like to see a break down of how he will make the savings as the FS budget is made up of an 80/20 split - 80% of costs being on wages.

So, unless he is talking station closures and job cuts I am at a loss to see where he will make savings of that magnitude.

Please do not forget that these services have faced year after year of cuts and there is no meat left on the bone whereas Police and Crime Commissioners have grown and are now costing a lot more than the old Police Authority ever did.

Jim Cameron

Worcester

'We must stop the slaughter'

SIR - Why!? How do we stop this slaughter of the innocent, both here and around the world.

Why are these young men doing this? It’s no use the ‘elites’ saying they are mindless, clearly they have cold, calculating minds. A human being is human no matter where.

Clearly the ‘elites’ continue to grab the world’s resources, especially oil in the Middle-East. This has meant devastation for ordinary people and support for dreadful regimes.

Every off target ‘smart’ bomb creates rage, which, as the security services themselves outlined, would mean ‘blow back’.

The innocent everywhere are now seeing the effects of this awful term they invented.

Barbarity, be it a ‘smart bomb’ or bombs here, only lead to barbarism. We have to share this planet equally or we all could end up in an Orwellian constant war.

David Griffiths

Worcester

'It’s all an enigma'

SIR - Is this the most unhelpful sign in Malvern? Ever tried finding out what businesses are on Spring Lane industrial estate?

Unlike other such estates, the sign only shows the roads - not what businesses are to be found! What a waste of time. I was trying to find out if there was an electrical wholesalers but no luck.

But wait - is the clue in the name? Enigma - according to the dictionary - means difficult to understand.

Jeanne Evans

Malvern

'Labour are bad losers'

SIR - The recent general campaigns, results and post election discussions have taught me 3 things: 1. There is no worse loser than Labour. They got fewer seats and votes that the Conservatives, but still can’t accept the result and now have the audacity to say that an alliance with the DUP would be weak and wobbly - have they forgotten that they governed for 5 years with the Lib Dems!

2. Politics and politicians need to be prepared to present bad news as well as good, and if they do it clearly without “spin” then they will both get their message across to the electorate and give journalists no opportunity to trip them up or catch the, out in the detail.

3. Joy Squires is both ungracious and the worst sort of politician who tries to instil fear into the electorate when there is no need. This comment is evidenced by her bitter speech at the count on the night if the election having realised that she had again been beaten by Robin Walker MP and by her letter in the WN of Mon 12 Jun in which she implies that an agreement between the Conservatives and DUP would reverse rights for the LBGT community, which is completely unfounded and ridiculous.

Chris Mitchell

Cllr St Clement

'End the Tory austerity'

SIR - Worcester News pages 1,2 and 3, on Monday, 12 June, contained interesting reports.

 Pages 1 and 3 were about the increasing demands on our foodbank due, according to its manager, Grahame Lucas, to “problems with the benefit system, particularly universal credit being rolled out.”

Mr Lucas went on to say that working people use the foodbank because their income is “not sufficient to keep their head above water.”

Our recently re-elected MP, Robin Walker’s “Wish List” was reported on page 2. There was nothing to improve the lives of foodbank users.

Mr Walker’s first priority appears to be the dualling of Carrington Bridge. He also pledges to “keep up the fight” for fairer funding for schools, despite failing for the past seven years and with more cuts planned until 2020.

 We desperately need a Labour government which will ensure £10 an hour minimum wage and will fund our schools properly.

The sooner we stop Tory austerity,the sooner thousands of poor and hungry local families will live with dignity without relying on foodbanks.

Paul Denham

Councillor for Rainbow Hill

'When losing means losing'

SIR – Labour parliamentary candidate Joy Squires is understandably disappointed to have failed a second time to defeat Robin Walker and become our MP.

But in claiming national victory she seems incapable of doing the Maths - 262 seats is not a winning score. In 2010 when Labour was behind by 48 seats Jeremy Corbyn said it was “disastrous.” So what is trailing by 56-catastrophic?

Regarding a “confidence and supply” agreement with the DUP Labour’s hypocrisy is startling. Gordon Brown tried to do a deal with the DUP and Ed Milliband expressed his willingness to do so to.

Cllr. Squires knows-or should know, that issues such as LGBT rights are a devolved matter to the Northern Ireland Assembly and will not affect the rest of the UK. Who devolved them? The last Labour government.

In our parliamentary democracy the winner is the party that can command a majority in the House of Commons. On that basis, the Conservatives won and Labour lost.

The Conservatives were also a million votes ahead of Labour in the general election. “Losing equals winning” sounds more like ‘1984’ than 2017.

Our country faces many challenges. Only the Conservatives can form a government to meet them.

Francis Lankester

Worcester

'Hands off our Exchange'

Sir- I read that there is a rumour that France and Germany may be interested in buying the London Stock Exchange.

Post-Brexit I should like to suggest to them to leave British utilities alone. We have not had a referendum for nothing.  Sovereignty and owning our own essential services are an independent nation’s right.

Wendy Hands

Upton-upon-Severn