Political round-up Many have missed out on energy payments

It is disappointing that so many park home residents eligible for payments under the Energy Bills Support Scheme have missed out.

In answer to my question about this, the Minister responsible told me that just over 40,000 park home owners have applied for and received payments of £400 which leaves up to 60,000 who have not even applied. At a meeting with the Minister, I pressed the case for extending the deadline for applications but she did not believe that anything more could be done to alert residents to their eligibility. If any readers of this column know about people who have missed out, please ask them to contact me. The vast majority of payments under this Scheme were made direct to customers via their energy suppliers and more than £11,500million has so far been spent.

I have heard from National Highways in response to concerns expressed by residents about peak time delays for local traffic at the Canford Bottom roundabout. National Highways have confirmed that it might be possible to change the current exit arrangements from Ham Lane so that the left turn lane can be extended, thereby making it easier for traffic going to Wimborne and

Colehill to access the junction. Dorset Council is now looking into the feasibility and potential cost and funding of such an improvement and I have been promised further information in August.

It is a source of frustration that Dorset Council seems to have unlimited resources for introducing cycle lanes, the latest saga being on Wimborne Road East.

Let us hope, therefore, that the response shows that the council is, indeed, keen to help resolve an acknowledged congestion hotspot.

Sometimes the work which I do as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe gives me insights into problems which only receive superficial attention in our national media. One such example is the background to the continuing refusal of Turkey to allow Sweden to become a member of Nato.

Sweden applied for Nato membership in May 2022 and a year ago it was agreed that both it and Finland should be invited to become members.

Since then, however, Turkey has been using its veto on the specious ground that Sweden harbours Turkish terrorists. A particular argument has developed round a Turkish journalist called Bulent Kenes who is resident in Sweden and in respect of whom the Swedish Courts have rejected applications by Turkey for extradition.

Despite the Swedish Courts ruling that Mr Kenes is a victim of politically motivated allegations, Turkey continues to demand his extradition in what amounts to an attempt at transnational repression. The international community must stand firm.

Appeasing the re-elected President Erdogan is the wrong answer.