New Milton Advertiser 2nd Oct 2020

22 · Friday 2nd October 2020

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Letters

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are looking for. The Bible shows how in life it is though we are all stumbling around in the dark, looking for answers that elude us – until we ask God for a light to see clearly. The good news is that His Light is freely available to all who ask for it. By sad contrast, most folk reject that offer and seek for light elsewhere, only to fail in their quest. As our natural light fades with the onset of autumn, may it remind you of the need to locate the Only True Light that He brings. Chris Watts Minister Evangelical Free Church New Milton this Internal Markets Bill is a failsafe to be used only if there is no deal, to protect that peace and openness of trade. Sue Hunter also, I would say sweepingly, asserts: “The Prime Minister does not speak for ordinary Conservatives.” Again, I would suggest the contrary: I believe that Mr Johnson’s actions, especially on this matter, are much nearer to true Conservative values than any recent leader of his party and indeed her own views. Ian Linney Hordle. Honour of a single mother? SIR – Geoff Pitts’ letter (Let- ters, 18th September) reminds me of an aside from Baroness Warnock that teachers are not social workers. Should they pass by on the other side? I became acutely aware of the devastating effect of the loss of a parent – a happy child becoming apathetic or even verging on criminality. I find it disturbing so often on TV news to see a mother cheerfully describing herself as a single parent – not a widow – as if it was a badge of honour, signifying an achievement of liberation. Perhaps some more knowl- edgeable reader will remind us which species eats its source of fertilisation! Surely there is only one reason why a man may avoid responsibility for the child he fathers? G. A. Davey, Barton. Let down by the voting system SIR – I read with interest your article (A&T, 18th September) covering the Tory takeover of the BCP Council by their latest vote of no confidence in the Unity Alliance. Sadly, your article pays scant regard to the real reason for the vote. It was simply and cynically because they can. Thanks to our distorting first-past-the-post (FPTP) vot- ing system, Tories are grossly over represented on the BCP council: they had just under 50% of the seats which they gained from only about 30% of the votes. The Unitary Alliance there- fore tenuously held the balance of power, which had been solidly earned by well over 60% of the votes. Unfortunately, following the sad deaths of two Unity Alliance councillors, the Tories seized their opportunity, one which they simply are not entitled to and do not deserve. This dysfunctional state of affairs is repeated to a less- er extent in the New Forest, where 58% of the votes has won the Tories 74% of the council- lors, and then disastrously at national level where FPTP has afforded this Tory government a “landslide majority” of 78 MPs on only 43% of the votes. That isn’t even a majority! And look at the disastrous consequences. They are mis- handling Covid to deadly effect, Brexit is a shambles that they want to break international law over, again we will have no food in the supermarkets long before the transition period is even over, and the environment is heading for boiling point with not a second thought. All because our archaic voting system has let us down. Our lack of democracy is liter- ally killing us. Barbara Czoch, Bransgore. A long way since PG Tips chimps SIR – I was with commercial television when it first started in September 1955 – “Associ- ated–Rediffusion Wembley” 65 years ago. Within months the PG Tips chimps were added to the mix of commercial and, two years after, PG Tips moved up from fourth place to be the top sell- ing tea in the UK. It took two years to really get it off the ground. A party was held on the Thames in “Royal Sovereign” in 1957. Television has come a long way since then. Betty Clibbon, Fawley.

Certainly, He was the Crea- tor of our natural light. There are many mentions of “light” in the Bible, over 70 just in the New Testament. However, on a deeper level He brings a special light, and John the Gospel writer describes how the Light of Truth came into the world at His birth. We do tend to take light for granted. Even at night we can usually have light at the flick of a switch. You know how much it is valued when out camping on a dark night, you reach for a torch and cannot find it. We know that sense of panic as you grope around in the dark, desperate to be able to see and make sense of your sur- roundings and find what you Hunter’s recent letter with her assertion that the Conservative and Unionist parties are jeop- ardising the hard-won peace in Northern Ireland, I would say that the truth is the contrary. It is the EU that are using the Northern Ireland border issue to try and force the UK into accepting a deal which would be Brexit in name only and leave us as a nation still under EU control in many areas. They are not acting in good faith. Boris Johnson has said that there will be no need for this bill to be enacted if a free trade agreement is agreed between the UK and EU. But our Prime Minister’s first priority must be to the security and openness of trade between the home nations of the UK. Far from putting peace in Northern Ireland in jeopardy, smells like a crematorium. We are normally a fit and healthy family but we have been cough- ing and spluttering for weeks on end now, with aching eyes and constant sore throats. Every time the fire dies down, then it is immediately stoked up again. You can’t escape the smell of the smoke wherever you go. I wonder if anyone else suffers from a simi- lar problem? I just can’t believe that people can be so selfish and thoughtless, particularly when we have been asked to try and protect our threatened environment and also when so many people are suffering from breathing problems anyway. Name and address supplied. Mindless people wrecking the rec SIR – It is heartbreaking each morning to see the conscien- tious work of the council staff perpetually undone by the selfish, mindless people who delight in littering our green and pleasant recreation ground with lots of broken glass, bot- tles, bags, etc, while shouting loudly and playing ghastly “music”. There are many rubbish bins provided. It has got to the point – with darker evenings – walkers are robbed of the pleasure of taking their evening stroll round the rec. Readers may recall some years back there was a wooden shelter where people could rest or avoid rain and wind. This was much appreciated by walk- ers, only for it to be demolished by vandals. The council kindly replaced the shelter, displaying a notice to the effect that if it happened again the shelter would be removed altogether. It did and it was! Name and address supplied. Bordering on blackmail SIR – Mr Beggs (Letters 25th September) is right that in say- ing that it was the EU Commis- sion which first said: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, which suited its ob- structive tactics at the time. However, after the British voters showed that they had had enough of being powerless vassals of the EU empire the EU’s new tactics have been to use Northern Ireland as leverage in its demands for continuing control of British territorial waters and technical standards. As Daniel Hannan, a former MEP, commented: “This was tantamount to saying ‘Unless you give us what we want we will impose checks and tariffs (taxes) between Great Britain and Northern Ireland’”. It was to prevent this black- mail situation arising that our government passed its Internal Market Bill in recognition of the fact that the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU was made on the basis that a trade deal would be agreed and fully implemented during 2020, but the EU has been obstructive ever since in order to try and keep our country within its regulatory control. Noel Baptiste Milford-on-Sea. EU not acting in good faith SIR – In response to Sue

Drastic measure to deal with Covid SIR – I am 70 years old and in receipt of a state pension and a small work pension.

in place of the present incum- bents. Go to it Mr Milone and good luck. Dr Terry Langford Milford-on-Sea. Becoming more intolerant SIR – A couple of days ago whilst waiting outside a shop waiting for my wife I could not help but listen to a loud conversation emanating from the shop. Perhaps not so much a conversation but more a ti- rade as a lady made known her dislike of people not towing the line in wearing masks, perhaps intentionally, perhaps simply forgetting to do so. Later that day when watch- ing the local news on televi- sion I was interested – more concerned – to hear of an idea being adopted by Hampshire police whereby motorists having dashboard cameras and cyclists/motorcyclists wearing helmet cameras were invited/ encouraged to send in footage showing incidents of dangerous driving with a view to motorists being cautioned or prosecuted. There is of course also the government (though no gov- ernment minister will admit to this) encouraging individuals to report persons breaking Covid regulations. Now taken individually such matters may appear reason- able and perhaps a civic duty pose this because we get an income through our pensions, so it should be bearable for a short time. Name & address supplied. door life. I think a sacrifice has to be made to deal with this pandemic. Working-age people facing unemployment shouldn’t have to. There are of course ex- ceptions to the above which need to be thought through, e.g. younger vulnerable people and people of working age who have to look after the vulnerable, and some others who may fall through the net – but certainly not as much help as would be required by propping up businesses and their work- force, disruption of education and so on. Drastic times need drastic measures and I only pro-

Vicious and rude attack on MPs SIR – It never fails to amaze me how extremely insulting and rude people can be in their public criticisms of others. Your correspondent Mr Milone’s comments about our two excellent New Forest MPs were vicious, personal and completely unconstructive and unjustified. I do wonder how he might treat others who disa- gree with his views. I just hope he is ashamed of his very nasty letter, but I doubt it. As to the MPs, I have had no contact with Julian Lewis, but I do know from personal experience that Sir Desmond Swayne is the very antithesis of Mr Milone’s description. In both personal contact and cor- respondence, I have found him to be clear-sighted, well-di- rected, eager to be well and properly informed, extremely polite and decisive. He has always replied to cor- respondence, albeit sometimes briefly as is often required. I have no doubt that, like many very busy people, he gives shortish shrift to time-wasters and wafflers but even so still politely. I suspect that Mr Lewis is similarly polite and construc- tive. Perhaps Mr Milone feels he can do a better job. If so, he only has to get himself elected We can get food delivered, so the only real hardship is not seeing younger family and a curtailment of our out- There are millions in the Covid vulnerable category who are in this relatively comfortable position because they also receive a pension. So I suggest that we do something radical to deal with this pandemic and my suggestion is that all those in receipt of a pension and by virtue who fall in the vulner- able category, should isolate for three months. Then the rest of the pop- ulation can go about normal business and take their chances, which are appar- ently less devastating than for the rest of us in the older, but financially comfortable category.

Andrew Burton spotted this Roe Deer Buck near Ossemsley. Please send your photos to news@adt.press

will grow further, together with the killing rate. Even if my assumption is wrong, the losses songbirds are and will be substantial. Having walked in a part of the New Forest amongst ma- ture oak and beech trees for 20 years, some days even in spring there has been no birdsong. The only solace I can pro- vide for Pat is to borrow my five vinyl records of birdsong produced by the pioneer of re- cording, Ludwig Koch, some 70 years ago. She can record the songs and play them to herself whilst walking through Linford Enclosure. John Jubb New Milton. A fluctuating wildlife balance SIR – I fear that in her letter published in the 18th Septem- ber edition of the A&T, Mrs Pat Woolley has displayed a lack of understanding of the ecological processes which drive a large ecosystem such as the New Forest. Her principle error is her as- sumption that predators such as the goshawk and the otter have a damaging effect on the population level of their prey. In fact, the main driver is the availability of food and habitat for the prey species. Thus both predator and prey exist in a fluctuating balance which in turn is largely affected by the weather.

but I’m not so sure. Indeed it seems to me that as a nation we are becoming more intol- erant of others and more than willing to “point the finger”. The year might be 2020 but thinking of George Orwell it might be 1984. I think I’m right in saying that this country already pos- sesses a huge amount of CCTV coverage – do we now need to actively encourage everybody to monitor and report each other’s behaviour.? I think not. Is this the type of society I want my children to grow up in? Steve Whitfield Hythe. Songbirds top of hawk feeding list SIR – Sadly, the reply from the national park authority gives Pat Woolley no hope of con- trolling the violent destruction caused by the 40 pairs of gos- hawks. It would be politically difficult. To give Pat’s concerns some quantitative feel, the Royal So- ciety for the Protection of Birds Pocket Book puts songbirds at the top of the feeding lists for goshawks. Assuming each pair of gos- hawks kills one songbird per day, 40 pairs of goshawks kill over 12,000 songbirds per year at the current rate. If the population of gos- hawks has grown to 40 pairs over the past 20 years, the chance is that this population

gave you that idea? The trees changing colour, or the weath- er getting cooler? The weath- er people say that we have passed the autumnal equinox, and the days are shorter. That may seem odd, as each day remains 24 hours long. But as the weeks roll by, the Earth angles our land further away from the sun, so daylight hours are shorter, and the nights longer. Living things respond to these changes by dropping leaves and hibernating, etc. All changes in response to the amount of daylight. Thinking of light, Jesus claims that He is “The Light of the World” (John 8 v.12). What did He mean by that? This is mirrored at various levels throughout the eco- system. Amongst their items of prey, goshawks take grey squirrels and various larger birds while sparrowhawks prey mainly on the smaller bird spe- cies. Otters eat larger fish and crustaceans while the larger fish and Herons prey on the smaller ones. To answer some of Mrs Wool- ley’s specific examples, yes, goshawks have been re-intro- duced unofficially into parts of the UK although I know of no specific examples in the New Forest and it is unfair to blame the national park bodies for this. The main driving factor for the increase has been the very welcome legal protection now afforded to goshawks. The very obvious dearth of rabbits in the last few years is mainly due to the spread of viral haemorrhag- ic disease – nothing to do with predation. Finally, at this time of year it is not unusual to see an appar- ent reduction in the numbers of small birds in the woods. Once bird nesting is over, birds become harder to see and also to hear as singing is dramati- cally reduced once the need to advertise for mates or defend nesting territories has ended for the year. I should also mention the increasing presence of another major predator in the For- est – that of the pine marten. This will provide another layer of predation, to some extent mirroring the effect of the goshawks, so we can perhaps expect to see a reduction in the numbers of the latter in years to come. Martin Noble, Address supplied. Looking forward to 2nd lockdown SIR – I am beginning to think that a second lockdown would be an extremely good thing as far as our environment is concerned. Last time the differ- ence in our air quality and the peace and quiet was unbeliev- able. I really hoped then that people would learn something from the experience – but instead of that there are now more cars on the road than ever. I find it very puzzling that people are terrified of catching coronavirus and having diffi- culty breathing, and yet they aren’t the least bit concerned about continually inhaling poisonous traffic fumes and incessant bonfire smoke. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the person who has had a bonfire burning off and on – often for three or four days at a time for several weeks running – en- veloping our little New Forest village in swirling, choking smoke. This event occurs regularly throughout the year – always either when it is extremely windy or, like recently, on beau- tiful warm sunny days when people want to have their win- dows open, hang their washing out, or either sit or work out in their gardens and enjoy the lovely weather. The last few weeks have been completely ruined for us. Our hair and clothes reek of smoke and the inside of the house

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