Blind people being denied the right to a secret vote

ONE hundred and fifty years ago, the Ballot Act of 1872 decreed that everyone had the right to vote in secret. Despite this, four in five blind people in 2021 said they were still unable to vote independently and in secret.

The figures speak for themselves – blind and partially sighted voters are too often being denied the right to a secret vote, and the Elections Bill, currently moving through the House of Lords, will only make this worse.

Voting is a fundamentally visual process. Under current law, introduced a generation ago, every polling station must have a device to make voting possible “without any assistance” for voters with sight loss. The Elections Bill is getting rid of this guarantee, meaning that it will become a postcode lottery for blind and partially sighted people as to what equipment they can expect when they go to cast their vote.

This move by the Government goes against all aspirations around levelling up for disabled people in society. We urgently call on the Secretary of State Michael Gove and Parliamentarians to maintain existing provisions to enable an independent vote for blind and partially sighted people.

Sign RNIB’s petition and join the organisation in calling on the Government for change to the Elections Bill at www.rnib.org.uk/ campaigning.

Sophie Dodgeon Head of Policy and Public Affairs RNIB (The Royal National Institute of Blind People)

Ovarian cancer signs are being ignored

WOMEN are being failed as the awareness crisis in ovarian cancer deepens. Symptoms of ovarian cancer are being ignored – both by those experiencing them and their GPs.

Last year’s annual Barnardo’s Big Toddle saw thousands of underfives take part in short sponsored ‘toddles’ to raise money for vulnerable children supported by the UK’s largest children’s charity. An amazing £198,000 was raised across the UK.

This year marks the 25th year of the Barnardo’s Big Toddle. And we are once again calling for children, their families and nurseries to join in the fun this summer as Big

Toddle Week returns with a safari theme from 20th to 26th June.

Parents, carers and nurseries can hold their own Big Toddles to help raise money for Barnardo’s. It could be a community Toddle, one for family and friends or one at your local nursery, primary school or childminding group.

Register now to receive a Toddle Together fundraising pack containing all the necessary information and lots of safarithemed ideas – such as free medals, stickers and sponsorship forms. Please go to https://www. barnardos.org.uk/bigtoddle for more information.

On behalf of the children and families we work with I would like to say a huge thank you.

Janice Gilroy Barnardo’s Fundraising Manager

Evil men have brought the nightmare back

AS a child in the Second World War in a boarding school I and several other children of my age were put to bed night after night, head to tail under a stout dining room table, sheltering from German bombs.

We listened to German bombers throbbing overhead and the sound of bombs going off near and far accompanied by the sound of antiaircraft fire.

You can imagine my feelings as I witness the trials the people of Ukraine are now going through.

For nearly all of my adult life I was an active Reservist keeping an eye on Soviet Russia to deter the Russians from starting another war.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall my generation thought we had put the threat of war behind us.

Now, it seems, the horror has returned, due to the machinations of evil and misguided men who have managed to rise to power when we allowed our guard to drop.

Those men are guilty of the war crime of “planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression” as defined by the Nuremberg Principles.

We must do our best to help the Ukrainians without making the situation worse and we must somehow bring those responsible for their plight to justice.

Anthony J Cooper

by emai

Help us put an end to this kitten con

WITH kitten season nearly here, Cats Protection is releasing a documentary highlighting the potentially tragic risks of buying underage kittens online from unscrupulous sellers who put profit before welfare.

The Big Kitten Con, narrated by Caroline Quentin, features traumatic accounts of kittens being sold at less than the legal age for commercial sale, which is eight-weeks, and sadly dying from debilitating illnesses.

Last year, 340,000 of the 500,000 cats that were purchased in the UK were found online on sites like Facebook, Gumtree, Pets 4 Homes and Preloved.

Though many sellers are responsible people, there are unscrupulous individuals who will exploit the anonymity of the internet to sell kittens that have been taken from their mums too young, denying them vital nutrients and social development, while passing them off as healthy, eight-week-old kittens.

As well as giving advice, we are encouraging the public to sign a petition calling on the Government to regulate cat breeding. It has just been introduced in Scotland and we would like to see England, Wales and Northern Ireland follow suit.

We want anyone who breeds two or more litters of kittens in a year to be licensed, which would make them subject to regular inspections.

To watch Cats Protection’s The

Big Kitten Con video and to sign Cats Protection’s petition, please visit www.cats.org.uk/kitten-con

Madison Rogers

Acting Head of Advocacy & Government Relations, Cats Protection

Remember the trams?

REMEMBER when trams ran along our local streets? Did you have friends, family, ancestors who worked on these routes - not just on the routes, but in the depots, too.

Do you have or know of any tram memorabilia - anything from old trams used as sheds or chicken houses to timetables or even tickets?

Do you have photographs you would like to share?

Do you have any memories of the trams, I’m particularly interested in the people who worked on them.

Did you get that bicycle wheel stuck in the trackway? Did you see or know of an accident, have an amusing or sad story to tell?

Did the tram play an important part in you or your family’s life?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions, I’d like to hear from you. I’m researching my new book looking at the old trams, with a particular interest in the people who worked and/or travelled on them.

Drop me a line at anthony_ poulton_smith@hotmail.com or call 07562 653565, you just may have exactly what I’m looking for.

Anthony Poulton-Smith Tamworth