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New Blackmore Vale, 4th March 2022
blackmorevale.net
Letters
Degree of disappointment in local MPs I have been very disappointed by the use several MPs have made of their free platform in the New BVM: this should not be an opportunity for misguided self-aggrandisement nor for a party political broadcast. It should also be factual. MP David Warburton writes (January 21): ‘it seems that wearing facemasks in school makes no difference to absences due to covid’, and ’80 per cent of children find wearing face masks in school makes it difficult to communicate’ and that ‘over half feel that wearing one made learning more difficult’. Mr Warburton, face coverings have only been mandatory in secondary schools’ classrooms (Year 7 and above) for the first few weeks of this term. Despite what you say, there is no research supporting your argument that wearing face masks in class makes no difference to the spread of the virus. There has not been time to carry out such research and besides any conclusions would have to examine whether other mitigating factors such as ventilation and social distancing were possible (which they are almost universally not in a secondary school classroom). As to the image you conjure up of small children having to hide their faces, this is pure emotional theatre: it has at no point during the pandemic been mandatory for primary school children to wear face masks in school in England! You end with an emotional rant that wearing
a mask is a ‘rather ugly infringement of… liberty.’ Fellow Tory MP Dr Murrison, however, in the same issue, supports a rather more sinister assault on our liberty than simply wearing a face mask, in his support for the Policing Bill. He ties it to his objection to the verdict in the case of the Colston Four and, while he is of course entitled to his own opinion, his nauseatingly condescending criticism of the judge presiding over this case, and his evident disregard for the rule of law, is horrifying and completely out of order. It needs to be said that this bill is not simply about toppling statues and blocking the M25, but with far wider implications involving restrictions on the basic right to protest, for example in increasing the police’s power to stop and search and giving them the power to ban individuals from protesting at all. Given the underhand way amendments were made to the bill after it had been passed in the Commons, before being thrown out by the Lords, I think the government is well-aware of the exceptional new powers it is seeking and would rather we didn’t notice. Kate Bergg By email Predictably, Simon Hoare is, yet again, conspicuously absent from the MP’s Roundup and Politics pages. I regard this as almost contemptuous of his constituents. Furthermore I find it extraordinary that
he, as an avid Remainer is chairman of the Parliamentary Northern Ireland Committee and who, along with many parliamentarians of all hues, has done everything he can, to frustrate Brexit in the House. Boris did not get Brexit done; he signed up to the NI agreement, that is the major impediment to implementing a proper Brexit. Indeed, in today’s Daily Telegraph there is further reporting on the lack of progress in introducing so many measures that we are now able to enact. All down to the Government and a largely Remainer Civil Service. My experience is that Simon Hoare does not represent the views of the majority of his constituents. That is not the same as being elected as their MP. It is a pity that he has such a significant majority. Jeremy Bloomfield Gillingham Your correspondent Simon Moon throws all the usual synonyms about paying for the BBC licence when a vast majority (80 per cent) think the licence fee is outdated from its inception when the BBC was all we had in the 60s. There was simply no other choice then. Today we have a wide range of free view TV channels that charge nothing and collect their revenue from advertising. Modern Britain has moved on with satellite and cable TV which charge by subscription for those who want to choose what they pay for. There is no
justification that they should be forced by law to pay additionally for something they don’t use. That does not mean the BBC will have to go out of business, it simply means they will have to fund themselves through advertising for those who want it free, or they can choose the subscription option. Either way, I am confident that given their commercial success to date, that they will have to adapt to the sort of changes and challenges we have all evolved to. By continually paying the licence fee for the BBC only is unfair competition for the rest of our excellent broadcasters. Freezing BBC licence fees only prolongs the agony of the BBC doing what is necessary for their success in the future. It’s an insult that this spineless Johnson government lacks the backbone to call time! Mike Fry By email It seems that no edition of the Blackmore Vale Magazine would be complete without the regular musings of Mr Jeremy Bloomfield over Dorset Council’s acquisition of the wonderful school, formerly known as St Mary’s. It was just over a year ago that I was involved in the marketing and sale of St Mary’s near Shaftesbury. I am sure Dorset Council will be able to respond for themselves on Mr Bloomfield’s various challenges, but I am happy to set him right on one point.
Writers should limit their letters to 300 words. Unfortunately we don’t have room to publish them all.
