OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News
MP: I am here to serve you
I am deeply honoured and grateful to have been elected as the Member of Parliament for Newbury.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported me throughout this journey.
To all the voters who placed their trust in me, and to the dedicated campaign team and volunteers who worked tirelessly, your efforts and commitment have made this possible.
I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Laura Farris for her dedicated service to our constituency.
Her work has laid a strong foundation, and I am committed to building upon it to address the needs and aspirations of the people of Newbury and West Berkshire.
This week, I am busy with introductions, inductions and getting set up in Westminster.
It is all about ensuring everything is in order for a smooth transition and familiarising myself with the workings of Parliament and getting stuck in.
In addition, I am already in the process of reaching out to Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the minister for the environment, as well as engaging with those affected by sewage and flooding issues in our constituency.
I will also be maintaining pressure on Thames Water to ensure they fulfil their commitments.
My primary focus remains on serving the people of Newbury.
As your MP, I am dedicated to working hard to address local issues, advocate for our community and bring about positive change.
I am eager to engage with constituents, listen to your concerns, and work together towards our common goals.
I encourage everyone to reach out to my office with any concerns, ideas and feedback.
My team and I are here to serve you, and we look forward to working closely with you to make Newbury an even better place to live.
You can contact me via my Parliamentary email at lee.dillon.mp@parliament.uk, or through Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter).
Thank you once again for your support.
Together, we can achieve great things for our community.
Lee Dillon
MP for Newbury
I wish Tom Wells was there when I grew up
I am a stammerer and thoroughly enjoyed your article ‘Ex-Theale Green pupil confronts lifelong stammer during TedX talk’ about Tom Wells (Newbury Weekly News, June 20).
My first thoughts upon reading this article was that I wish there had been someone like Mr Wells in the news when I was growing up in Ireland.
First, Mr Wells is right on target that young stammerers should not automatically try to change their speech and they should embrace their stammering.
However, if a person wishes to pursue fluent speech and not be a stammerer, then that is their prerogative.
A stammerer should not be forced into anything either way.
Their speech is natural, and they should not be ashamed of it.
There are many very helpful organisations in the UK such as STAMMA (the British Stammering Association) and the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children.
I recommend the free resources of the website of the Stuttering Foundation (www.StutteringHelp.org) which provides such things as e-books, downloadable brochures and many helpful streaming videos.
The site also has fascinating biographical articles on famous stammerers such as Bruce Willis, Marilyn Monroe, Noel Gallagher, Rowan Atkinson and Emily Blunt.
I applaud Tom Wells for his activism on behalf of his fellow stammerers.
A job well done, Mr Wells.
Keep up the great work!
Mark Burke
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Get involved with the Wash Common festival
The Wash Common Community Festival is now in its third year.
It's a unique event focusing on local community groups and charities, bringing everyone together for one day to fundraise, recruit, and raise awareness.
Along with small independent trade stalls and numerous activities for children to try, there will be live music all day and the Wash Common Garden and Craft Show.
It’s a truly special community event.
We are looking for community-minded individuals to join the organising team to help with preparations and on the day of the event.
This year's festival is on Saturday, September 28, from 1pm to 5 pm at Falkland Cricket Club, Enborne Street, Wash Common.
If you'd like to be involved in any way, please get in contact at GLV@WashCommonScouts.org.uk
Rob Daniels
Wash Common Community Festival
Faraday Road ‘rain gardens’ a waste of cash
Politics versus financial crisis for ordinary working people?
Of course, with the Lib Dems politics wins. Every administration seems to try and outdo the last one on the lunacy scale.
I thought initially it would be the incredible amount paid out to get an almost unbookable football pitch, but no, that has been trumped, showing that when it comes to wasting tax money the Lib Dems are not one-trick ponies.
This year it is the ‘greening’ of the LRIE by putting in ‘rain gardens’. Whatever they are.
I am told it means losing some parking places and the revenue that goes with them so we can have a few trees and maybe other plants too. along Faraday Road.
I am told this is to attract developers.
Who on earth thought this up? It’s an industrial estate, not a garden centre.
What’s it going to cost? But have no fear, the money is not from the council tax but central government funding which, you guessed it, is taxpayers’ money.
So there we have it, the politics of insanity at the working person’s expense.
John Gotelee
London Road, Newbury
Now we need a more fair electoral system
Well said councillor Mackinnon are words I never thought I would say – ever.
However, councillor Mackinnon spent a considerable effort on social media pleading with people not to vote Reform, and it was the Reform vote that split the right wing vote and enabled Labour to secure 400-plus seats from 35 per cent of the vote.
Surely it is time to move to proportional representation and end this farce when in two successive Parliaments parties with well under 50 per cent of the vote secure well over 50 per cent of the seats.
Do the Green Party, with seven per cent of the vote, deserve four seats out of 650? Do Reform, with 14 per cent of the vote, deserve five seats? Do 21 per cent of the voters deserve nine seats between them?
Surely it is time for change in this country.
If there is one crowning achievement of the last Conservative administration it was inadvertently making the case for constitutional reform.
Ian Hall
Ashampstead
Tories to blame for sewage pollution
In the Newbury Weekly News on June 20 Paul Hearn defended Laura Farris MP and the Conservatives against charges that they have overseen unprecedented pollution of our rivers and seas.
He concluded this is a case of politicians distorting the truth: Conservatives are not to blame and accusers should be “ashamed”.
I am neither a politician nor am I ashamed to hold the Conservatives responsible for the current level of sewage pollution of rivers and seas around our coast.
To remind Mr Hearn and others of key points.
The Conservative Government decided to privatise water companies as regional monopolies, but failed to establish an effective economic or environmental regulatory regime.
Privatisation made the companies targets of national and international investors and Macquarie, an Australian bank, took control of Thames Water.
While Thames Water was debt-free at privatisation, Macquarie loaded the company with some £10bn of debt, much of which it used to fund dividends.
While successful infrastructure investment should be rewarded, Macquarie’s returns should really be seen as a ruthless extraction of value by financial engineering while, at the same time, underfunding necessary water and sewage improvments.
Rob Borthwick
Wickham Heath
