Letters to the Canary: paying more tax to fund the NHS, and fox hunting

The Canary is excited to share the fifth edition of our members’ letters page. This is where we publish people’s responses to the news, politics, or anything else they want to get off their chest. However, this is a members-only benefit! If you’d like to subscribe monthly to the Canary – starting from just £1 – and get a letter published, then you can do that here:

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This week’s letters

This week we have a perspective from France on fox hunting, a response to a letter last week on the NHS, and some thoughts on arms dealers.

In response to Glen Black’s Canary article There’s no Christmas cheer for foxes this year…

Hello.

We need you here, in France! Foxes are classed as vermin and can be hunted/killed all year round. Wild animals like boar and deer are also reared just to be hunted. I guess they’ve killed nearly all the wild ones (maybe not boar). I used to have a little herd of deer drinking from the stream behind my house (in south west France). Not any more. I think they have all been shot. In England, you can hear the pleasing sound of wood pigeons cooing in most forests. There are none around here, despite plenty of woodland.

Alan Rippington, France, via email

Against paying more tax to fund the NHS, as tabled by a member’s letter on 7 January

Pensioners do not need to pay more income tax to fund the NHS.

Our new Over-50s party would put more income tax on the rich (new lower threshold for 45p tax threshold, and further 50p and 55p tax rates), as well as our so-called ‘Winston Churchill’s Luxury Tax’ on luxury goods bought by the rich.

We’d also look at ending NHS hospitals paying business rates, and scrapping VAT on medicines delivered to NHS.

Christine Williams, via email

www.over50sparty.org.uk 

Thoughts on arms dealers

The rich arms dealers with the ear of their pet politicians are just as much too blame for war and death, if not more so than, the blind patriotism of the gullible public. However, arms dealers are no less to blame than corrupt politicians.

The very worst example of this is 1913-1919, where whole empires of men, women and children were somehow swept away on waves of optimism about going to war – because an entitled, rich head of state and his wife were murdered. Two lost lives cost the loss of millions and gave arms manufacturers and dealers a license to print money – as they do in every stupid act of warfare, instigated by their greed and the politicians. Plus, warmongering generals also need to battle-test their new weaponry.

All three of these monstrous sections of society are never close to the weapons they put to use to wipe out, vaporise, obliterate murder and maim other humans. No, they are as in every conflict out of harms way – sending and telling ordinary people it is their patriotic duty to go out and murder other ordinary people.

Patrick McQueenie, via email

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