In your recent letters page, a reader noted that our MP Anthony Mangnall is jointly responsible for the current mess we are in (Fact Check).
This is correct. My local GP surgery state funding cuts are leaving them “worried and distressed” at the limited service they can provide.
When locals were angry about sewage in the River Dart and upset he voted against a tougher approach to reduce sewage dumping in rivers, he promised “unlimited fines and imprisonment”. Instead we got cryptosporidium in our tap water and South West Water issued bonuses to CEOs.
Local people struggle to pay mortgages since Liz Truss’ disastrous budget he supported, whilst his rebellion against security of tenure for those in private rented accommodation puts them at risk of homelessness.
Jacob Rees-Mogg admitted the Tories are demanding ID to vote to “gerrymander” the electoral system, making it harder for certain groups to vote. That’s why I, like others, are lending our vote to the Lib Dems. We won’t let them manipulate the system to keep them in power.
What upsets me most about our MP and his party is their refusal to listen to experts and their unwillingness to sacrifice anything. This is symbolised by Anthony’s arrogant refusal to wear a mask often during covid because he knows better and that the rules should not apply to him.
Perhaps he was right to describe himself as an “entitled public-school boy”.
Yours sincerely
Mark Murton
Brixham
MP’s hollow boasts on water safety exposed
Anthony Mangnall should be embarrassed by his opinion piece last week (June 6) given reports in the I newspaper that ‘dangerous levels of E coli’ have been found in ‘half of England’s new bathing sites’. His self-congratulation about having put ‘new rules in place that mean water companies can be fined unlimited amounts’, licenses can be ‘revoked’, and executives can be ‘sent to jail’ hides the reality of the situation.
The fact is that fines so far have been very affordable - much cheaper to continue illegal raw sewage discharges rather than treating them properly. There have been no moves to revoke SWW’s license or to prosecute Susan Davy, SWW’s CEO. His ‘anger’ following the recent indefensible SWW dividend payout promises to be as entirely ineffectual as the rest of his contribution to date, which has had no impact whatsoever on 100K hours of sewage discharges in 2016 rising to over 3.6 million in 2023. That hardly seems like an outcome consistent with ‘tough measures holding water companies to account’.
His Party’s abysmal failure (shared by Mangnall himself) to contain this situation is one of the many reasons the Conservative Party is trailing so badly in the opinion polls. Mangnall himself has been overtaken in at least two major polls recently by Caroline Voaden (LibDem).
My own feeling is that if rivers are to become clean again the first step is to remove the Conservatives from office, including Mangnall. The possibility of LibDems in this constituency, with Labour in power nationally, gives me hope that we can return to sanity on July 4th and begin the process of cleaning up the Tory enabled filthy mess in our rivers.
Barry Cohen
Totnes
Concern as crime strategy falls short
Anthony Mangnall talks a good talk on crime, but the walk is not so good.
I've been talking to a councillor in South Brent (where I live) who reports a wave of antisocial behaviour and petty crime - public toilets being trashed repeatedly to the point of closure; large amounts of gardening equipment stolen from allotments; petty theft; someone even defecated in a public play area. He says the police are sympathetic but with only one community support officer to cover a vast area between here and Totnes, essentially that’s very little community police presence.
This is a direct consequence from the gutting of public services that his Party and Government has inflicted on our country over the last 14 years. For him to tell us what a good local candidate he is and therefore vote for him again is a bit thin!
We do not vote for a candidate alone. We vote within a context. If we vote Mangnall we get Sunak and a continuation of failed Conservative policies that have led us to this point.
We have to face facts - the Conservative record on crime is appalling. National figures are bandied about, supposed to show that crime is falling. The reality is people often don’t report as there is no point. There is a huge backlog of cases in the courts and prisoners are being released up to 70 days early. Conservative MPs tell us there are 20K extra police officers when (as Anthony confirms in his Facebook video) we are still below 2010 levels, never mind adding more to account for the population growth since then.
A vote for Conservative Mangnall is a vote for a continuation of that failure. I will vote for LibDem Caroline Voaden, the only candidate who can beat him.
Peter Scott,
South Brent
Pride flag’s true significance goes beyond inclusivity
While it's gratifying to hear that Dartmouth Town Council is flying the Pride flag all month, it is a major oversimplification to say the the flag represents "inclusivity, acceptance and equality for all".
The flag, and the particular colours on it, very specifically refer to the need for people who are LGBTQIA+ to be celebrated, not marginalised and discriminated against. And for all those who have historically been shamed for their sexuality or gender identity to rather take pride in themselves and their difference.
As the saying goes, if there were a need for a straight pride flag (and month), straight people would have invented one.
Sylvia Rose
Totnes, TQ9 7JH
Alcohol harm costs NHS billions The Times [May 20] published information emanating from The Institute of Alcohol Studies. This body claimed that Alcohol harm cost the NHS £491-billion annually through hospital admissions and Ambulance call-out costs. In the same article Professor Sir Ian Gilmore and Chairman of the the Alcohol Health Alliance said: "Doctors nurses and other healthcare professionals spend so much of their time treating alcohol related harms, all of which are preventable. Given the ill health, and resulting pressures on the NHS, associated with ultra-processed food and smoking do politicians truly believe that simply by increasing the NHS budget these problems will Vanish? They appear think the electorate do. John Grocock. Follaton Rise
Totnes
Blood Donors needed at Derriford
We’re calling on local people to help fill available blood donation appointments at our Plymouth Donor Centre at Derriford Hospital on Derriford Road over coming days and weeks to help us boost our blood stock levels.
There is a particular need for O-negative and O-positive donors.
If you’re able to donate, please go online at www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23 to book an appointment.
Please also encourage family and friends to book an appointment.
By giving an hour of your time, you could save up to three lives.
With thanks,
Paul O’Brien
Director of Blood Supply