King's Lynn Freebridge, Parkway, Partygate/ Boris Johnson and Desert Rats feature in Lynn News letters

In the same vein its hardly surprising this whole Partygate saga would ever remove Johnson from the Premiership anyway, which it won’t (on its own)!

Johnson cheerleaders say “let’s move on” but politics moves on anyway. All political issues blend into each other whatever assumed rank of importance but by adopting the term ‘moving on’ it infers all UK politics had stopped solely because of Government shenanigans and rule transgressions over Partygate) which it hadn’t.

After weeks of ‘Partygate’ media attention it has allowed the British Tory establishment assisted by a nondescript Labour opposition to exploit many voters’ appetite for personality politics and eccentricities; for Johnson the person versus the utter failure of Tory neoliberal economic programme since 2010, which has in essence resulted in this immense cost-of-living crisis! Consequently that’s why almost immediately after Gray’s report was published the Government announced its U-turn on implementing a U-turn on imposing a windfall tax on energy companies, albeit a complete contradiction of it’s ideological free market opposition to such a tax.

The Tory government and their backbench MPs like Norfolk’s James Wild and Duncan Baker, use the excuse of the pandemic and the capitalist military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine as an impediment to progress but having been in power since 2010 the failure of Tory economic policies were well evident well before these events took place.

So instead of “moving on”, let the political process take its normal course to expose the entire gamut of Tory ideological political failure like the real deleterious consequences of Brexit, the cost-of-living crisis, the state of social care etc, all of which stem from both right-wing Tory and Blairite New Labour neoliberal unchallenged ideology since 1979.

Nick Vinehill,

Snettisham

MEETING

Deserts Rats to meet up

The annual memorial event of the Desert Rats Association is to take place at High Ash Thetford, on Sunday, July 3, between 10.30am and 3.30pm.

The Desert Rats Association is raising funds to renovate the Sandhurst Desert Rats memorial stone describing the major campaigns and battle fought between 1939- 1945. Then it will be incorporate into a larger memorial to all the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers that have served in the Second World War, Northern Ireland, Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, Operation TELIC and Operation HERRICK. The new memorial will be put in the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and will be designed and manufactured by Henry Grey, of Salisbury.

The Desert Rats Association will require to raise in the region of £90,000.00, of which we have now achieved £80,000 in all to have the memorial commissioned and now are in the process complete the final stage. Call me on 01366 347316 if interested in attending.

Debbie Wells,

Membership secretary, Desert Rats Association

PARKWAY

Who was going to pay?

Please can anyone in authority please inform me out of curiosity, who was going to pay for all the roadworks, bridge building, cycle lane, leading from Fairstead Estate to the Hardwick Estate, then via the back of Howard Junior School to exit on Queen Mary Road, now cancelled. Wasn’t pollution very high some time ago in the Clock area of Gaywood. There are more cars than ever through that area.

Many years ago, if I remember correctly, there was going to be a road leading through Springwood to Reffley with a bridge over the Gaywood river. That was in the 70s, so who would not pay for that? Was it even in the plans?

P Payne,

Lynn

THANKS

Talking newspaper

The Lynn News were kind enough to provide myself and my joint editor, Helena Clarke, with the Lynn News app during the last 12 months. We have found this extremely useful in preparing the scripts for our readers, who deliver the local news in audio form to the blind and partially sighted of West Norfolk. We currently have 120 listeners to our Talking Newspaper.

The Talking Newspaper are grateful to the Lynn News for providing our charity with this app and we would respectfully request that you would consider providing us with this support.

Our Talking Newspaper continues to acknowledge the source of our news and the support of the Lynn News in our audio editions.

John Dawson,

King’s Lynn Talking Newspaper

FREEBRIDGE

How do they reach £25m?

Re Hillington Square renewal (Lynn News, May 27), I have just discussed this with a friend of mine and he is very curious about how Freebridge reached this £25 million costing figure.

Assuming a maximum of £100K each for the 26 refurbishments that means they’re budgeting roughly £320K each for the 70 new builds. He says that means they’re paying whoever does the build full real estate market value even though they already own the land! They’re then going to have to rent out at ‘social housing’ rates so probably £100-£120 a week - £5,200-£6,200 a year - which means they’ll never cover the initial investment. I know Freebridge is a non-profit organisation but this to me sounds daft. Unless they’re getting substantial grant funding that outlay will definitely impact on their funding for services to existing tenants and whatever the financing someone along the line stands to make a huge profit. Be interesting to see a detailed breakdown of the budget for the project and also the details of how it was (or will be) put out to contract 😈

To quote Elmer Fudd, ‘There’s something awfully screwy going on around here!’

John Evans,

Stow Bridge

POLITICS

Mayor fears for PM

I noted with interest that the new mayor of West Norfolk, is reported in The Telegraph as calling for Boris Johnson to “seriously reflect …whether he is the right man for the job”. I wonder if our two local West Norfolk MPs agree with their own highly respected Conservative mayor, borough and Norfolk county councillor? Liz Truss has been supportive of the PM and seems too preoccupied in starting a trade war with the EU. James Wild has been weak and silent on “Partygate” and forgot to mention it in his weekly media piece, one would presume hoping it will go away, but I hear behind the scenes that West Norfolk Tories are split on the issue fearing a drubbing in future local election. I’m pleased the mayor has be brave to speak out. The Telegraph quotes Lesley Bambridge as saying she fears that Mr Johnson had “lost his grip” on Number 10 and his top team. She said: “I do think that sometimes he doesn’t seem to handle things in the best way. There was the Dominic Cummings episode, he should have sacked him. I think it is time for him to seriously reflect and decide whether he is the right man for the job.”

Rob Colwell,

LibDem borough councillor for Gaywood South

JUBILEE

Where were the flags

With a name like Queen Elizabeth Avenue, you would have thought that the Gaywood residents would have decked out their properties with flags and bunting to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Sadly not. When I walked down the road last Thursday and Friday, the first two days of the bank holiday celebrations, there was just a single token effort – small flags in the window of one house.

R Hansen,

Wootton Road, Gaywood