Dear Editor,

On Wednesday morning coming round the corner from Boots into South Street, I was amazed to see a young female council employee, albeit wearing a hi viz jacket, sitting cross legged in the road painting the railings! Surely this could have been done from the pavement side pr at the very least , barriers could have been erected round her, knowing how often traffic hits the railings at these crossroads.

Never mind health and safety, it was just sheer stupidity!

Mrs Lesley Darlow

Dukes Court, Wellington

No business should be above the law but I wonder whether the Environment Agency has it’s priorities quite right?

As reported in last week’s Welly Weekly two local farmers were fined £14,000 for accidentally polluting local streams. A huge amount of money for any small business.

In contrast the privatised water companies including Wessex and South West Water receive virtually no sanctions whilst deliberately dumping raw sewage into our water courses and oceans on a daily basis. Meanwhile they are using the money they save to pay their shareholders £billions in dividends and their senior executives millions in bonuses.

No one wants pollution of our watercourses but isn’t it possible that a different focus by the Environment Agency might bring much wider benefits for all of us?

Tim Williams

Wellington

Dear Editor,

Nigel Farage’s new ‘Britannia Card’ is being sold as taking from the rich to give to the poor, Robin Hood-style. But is it? To me it looks more like a massive tax break for wealthy foreigners, not available to British citizens. The Brits in this scheme have to make do with a few quid a year to trick them into selling out their own interests.

Under the plan, rich foreigners can pay £250,000 up front and avoid inheritance tax and tax on overseas income for ten years. That one-off payment might fund around £600 a year for some low-income Brits – crumbs, while the ultra-rich save millions.

This is from a party promising zero net migration. Yet it actively invites rich foreigners to settle here tax-free. It’s a reversal of Labour’s effort to scrap non-dom loopholes and a slap in the face to British taxpayers.

The estimated hole in public finances? £34-billion. That’s money lost to the NHS, potholes not repaired, schools crumbling. And who would have their taxes raised to compensate? Why British taxpayers of course?

How does this help ordinary Brits? It doesn’t. It’s a con dressed up in patriotic branding. A banquet for the global elite, sold with pocket change for the poor.

Farage claims to stand up for Britain and British workers, but this policy sells both out. Did he create it on the back of a fag packet after a boozy lunch? Reform voters (now at 34 per cent in the polls – the same as what produced Labour's landslide): are you really buying this? Is this really the kind of PM you want?

Peter Scott, via email

Dear Editor,

Each year, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) publishes a report of the world’s most neglected displacement crises. It considers levels of humanitarian funding, media attention, and political engagement to end conflict. For the first time, Cameroon topped the list, followed by Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso.

At the international disaster relief charity ShelterBox, we specialise in emergency shelter for people who’ve been uprooted by conflict or disaster. We are responding to the four most neglected crises. Raising awareness and funds is difficult but crucial.

Armed conflict, flooding, drought, and the worst rainy season in decades, has left more than a million people in Cameroon internally displaced. People have been left with few ways to make a living and food insecurity has soared. In 2024, humanitarian funding for the crisis was less than half what was needed.

Minawao camp in the country’s Far North region was opened in 2013 for refugees fleeing violence in Nigeria. Built for 35,000 people, today more than 75,000 people live there with many more just outside the camp. Some have been there for 10 years or more.

Since 2015, ShelterBox has supported over 250,000 people in and around Minawao. We’re one of the main shelter providers in the Far North region of Cameroon. We began with tents and household items, later providing tarpaulins and rope so families could repair damaged shelters.

Since 2023, with our local partner Public Concern, we’ve been making small but important changes to the design of shelters based on feedback from local people. This includes better ventilation to reduce daytime temperatures inside them. I’ll be heading to the Far North region this month where we’ll be exploring further changes to improve living conditions and ensure shelters are more resilient to heavy rains and harsh climate.

Claire Leeson , via email