Letters

We have been frightened, bullied, lied to,

Twenty months ago I made a plea in this magazine for calm in the face of the growing pandemic. Unfortunately the opposite happened: panic took over, the medical treatment of millions postponed; millions more put under virtual house arrest, new dress code imposed, injections given before the cautionary leaflet issued, digital tracking system at an estimated £37 billion; and threats of dismissal of NHS staff who question any of the policies. This menagerie of policies outflanks the drama at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. If King Canute’s advisors are now seen to be laughable, the present group of Members at The Party make them seen to possess Herculean brain power, even if they forgot to check the tide time tables. The present university-based advisors wrongly predicted both cattle and human deaths from foot and mouth disease and CJD, which led to the slaughter of about 7 million cattle with the one, and a gigantic fear factor with the other: let us not forget the details. Half a million deaths forecast from CJD turned out to be fewer than 200. The detailed mathematical modelling of foot and mouth was severely criticised in a research paper co-authored by three Veterinary Surgeons in the journal Epizootics. I did not reply to your correspondent who thought that I was wrong to speak of Bug Mania. I waited until this cruel experiment without an experimental design had run its course long enough to show people that our freedom has been taken away, discussion about the English way of life banned and tax-payers’ money squandered on a breathtaking scale. What has happened to the spirit of independence

Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justsocaricatures .co.uk

that has long made England so respected in the past? It has been frightened, bullied, lied to, and if the truth be known, laughed at. Children and the elderly have been caught in the crossfire: their voices stymied. Come on England, learn to say: “No thank you.” Recently more than 10,000 medical workers have signed a declaration calling to be allowed to fulfil the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath. The years 1957 and 1968 saw the Asian and Hong Kong flu pandemics, the latter lasting for about three years. In both cases there was no shutdown. With the current shutdown the consequences are a huge rise in marital breakdown, depression, debt, domestic violence, and increased drug taking and untreated illness. Globally the death rate looks directly proportional to wealth, so that the USA it is 0.24% of the total population, UK 0.2% while Egypt and the whole of Africa 0.01%. Since 1968 total death rates have fallen while the global population has more than doubled. During the 1968 pandemic up to about 4 million people died so the current number of just over 5 million is less than might be expected based on population change and lower overall death rates. However, for the UK the death rate from the bug has increased by a factor of over 3, not by an expected factor of less than unity when population change and lower overall mortality are taken into account. It is tempting to suggest that the harmful effects of affluence have tragically become apparent: I have recently found a significant positive correlation between real income and death rates based on a sample of 51 countries. In contrast Sweden and seven States in America which stayed ‘open’ have had lower death rates than others who have taken ‘control’ measures. In 1973 a paper was published in the journal Phytopathology which showed that potato blight spores were carried across the Atlantic Ocean on the jetstream of the upper atmosphere. The bug which has caused so much fear cannot be seen heard or knowingly touched, whose ancestors may go back almost to the beginning of time. They know all the tricks and a few more that no computer model can simulate. A sincere apology and great effort to help those millions to recover themselves socially, emotionally and economically is now overdue. It is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. Dr Colin Clark

n I am extremely concerned by signs of corruption and cronyism (‘sleaze’) within the current government over recent weeks and months. I simply don’t believe these issues exist in a bubble. When politicians openly and knowingly fail their constituents, this is a symptom of something far more rotten at the heart of our political system. I’ve been following Best for Britain’s work on the Government’s antidemocratic agenda. Several bills are passing through parliament at the moment which threaten to undermine our democracy. The Elections Bill will remove the independence of the Electoral Commission and undermine its ability to monitor elections. Other bills, such as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and the Judicial Review and Courts Bill all take power out of the hands of ordinary people and our democratic institutions and concentrate it in the hands of the Government. The fact that this Government is so happy to take liberties with public trust is, I fear, a sad sign

Letters left with depression, debt and dependency

that this Government is already preparing for a future where it cannot be held accountable. If other readers have similar concerns I would urge them to become involved by following such organisations as The Good Law Project, Best for Britain and Remove This Tory Government, all of which are non-party political but try to promote honest government in different ways. Tony Troughton-Smith Stalbridge

n I do so love reading the MPs’ round up in the New Blackmore Vale magazine. The latest article by Andrew Murrison is a fine example of The Conservative Party’s use of disinformation. He says he abstained on the Owen Paterson measures proposed due to the compassion he felt for the loss of his wife. The reason for Rose Paterson’s death was because she became embroiled in a planning row alongside housing secretary Robert Jenrick, who had asked his department to reexamine an application by the Jockey Club for 300-plus homes and a hotel at Sandown Park, after it had been unanimously rejected by Surrey councillors the same year. This was in itself a fine example of why voters were so angry about the government’s handling of a lobbying scandal. And whilst I commend Mr Murrison for his 2nd job it is a bit of an irony that he opposed the Iraq War in 2003 but didn’t vote against it. Mark Holderness, Charlton

n Just because Mr Fisher’s experience of Brexit is one thing does not make it the same experience for everyone else. It’s a bit like Nadine Dorries’ recent claim that Caroline Nokes could not have been groped by Mr Johnson Sr. because it never happened to her. I have to say that from a manufacturing perspective the labour shortages and the supply chain problems

Yesterday’s Vale:

David Burnett is the author of LOST DORSET: The Villages & Countryside, whose companion volume, LOST DORSET: The Towns, published last month.

Bagber, looking west along what is now the A357. The birthplace of the Dorset dialect poet William Barnes (1801-1886) was a hamlet of cob and thatch with a few newer brick houses when this photograph was taken towards the end of the 19th century. Despite the enclosure of Bagber Common in the 1830s, with the loss of the commoners’ rights, it was still occupied by farm workers, dairymen and graziers. The two cottages on the left were built in 1872, but only the further one still stands, with the date and initials of its owner picked out in bricks on the gable end.

are very much associated with Brexit. So too the added costs of exporting to customers in the EU which is time consuming and erodes margins so unnecessarily. I used to export orders to the ROI every week but since January of this year this part of my business has simply vanished because it is too costly and bureaucratic for everyone involved. The UK manufacturing sector is worth about £358 billion p/a but I’m not sure how that compares to the maze design sector. Nevertheless, I’m pleased it is going so well for him and I always look forward to the prospect of seeing new jobs created in North Dorset. Meanwhile the manufacturing sector is suffering its worst downturn for over 30 years but as our European competitors emerge from the covid downturn we remain hampered by the appalling Brexit deal which was hurried through to ‘Get Brexit Done’ by an arbitrary deadline. Consequently, we are all forced to live (work and travel) in the Brexit slow lane and there are still more post Brexit requirements looming for us in January 2022. I do enjoy reading Mr Fisher’s column from time to time, but he should desist from gaslighting us as we get enough of this sort of nonsense direct from ministers. Charles Ellis Blandford Forum

n Something has changed at the New Blackmore Vale and its not for the best. The last two editions have been printed on very different paper; not only is it a heavier grade, but it is very much coarser. In the past I have been able to rely on the BVM to provide warm, absorbent nesting material for the hedgehogs that I rescue. Every day I shred several copies, which I get from villagers once they have read them. The hogs soon nest down in their fresh paper which more economical than other materials, but now – no way , it is thrown out of the nest! I now have to rely on the leftovers of the national press –the hogs are very discerning. I have little doubt that this added weight is also a burden to all the distributors. What a pity someone didn’t consider the consequences of the change. Why the change? You have lost your credentials. The BVM is now only good for recycling? Tony Gibb We will be back to our old ways from this edition! The problem lay in a paper supply issue at the printers. Ed