BIG PICTURE
is to say how well it all went.
It was very well organised regarding parking, stewarding, social distancing and an explanation was given about the painless vaccination itself.
I would strongly recommend to anyone who has been told that a vaccination is available for them, to cast any worries aside and have the jab.
Brian and Jean Reader via email
ON ROAD TO TROUBLE
DUE to the snowfall this week Birtles Road and Whirley Road in Macclesfield had cars struggling to get through.
Next winter Councillor Sam Corcoran’s Cheshire East Council are going to cease gritting these roads.
This despite there being a nursery, pre school, infant school and church on them.
This is scandalous but what does he care, he lives in Sandbach. Samantha Lyons Chelford Road, Macclesfield
ANOTHER POLL TAX POLICY
IN response to Phil
Mason’s letter to the editor in the Macclesfield Express, January 13,
2021.
I don’t think Mr Mason is aware of the magnitude of what the Conservative government has chosen to undertake.
Our MP David Rutley, unlike (Tatton MP)
Esther McVey, has never stated that Brexit would be of benefit to the UK.
Lord Heseltine was expelled from the Conservative Party for his criticism of Brexit.
Lord Heseltine undertook the removal of the Poll Tax.
I suggested a solution to many Conservatives which was local income tax.
But this was not acceptable to them.
The Conservative Party are now undertaking another Poll Tax policy.
Mr Rutley and others will sack Boris Johnson when the business conditions become bleak enough and when support for the Conservative Party becomes low enough.
In the meantime, the citizens of Macclesfield, Cheshire and UK will suffer economic hardship.
I would love to be proven wrong.
But I fear for the residents of our community and the country at large.
Stephen Broadhead European Movement of Macclesfield and East Cheshire
TREATY GIVES FUTURE HOPE
AMIDST all the doom and gloom of 2020, there is a reason to celebrate.
January 22, 2021, is an historic date, worthy of global celebrations.
This is the date when the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will make it illegal, under international law, for its signatories to make or possess nuclear weapons.
Sadly, the UK is one of the few countries who have not yet signed up to the treaty.
However, this will not stop progress being made towards the eventual global abolition of nuclear weapons.
Towns and cities around the world, including Washington, Paris, Edinburgh and Manchester, are becoming Nuclear Ban Communities as they independently sign up to this treaty – giving us all hope for the future.
Celia Davies address supplied
AFTER a tumultuous few weeks in American politics I have found myself musing on democracy and its fragility.
We take for granted our fair societies but how fair are they in reality, and should be striving for better?
The world was shocked to see the Capitol building stormed in Washington, protestors encouraged by the President with a few idle words spoken to an angry and frustrated crowd.
Who was to blame for this? Sectors of the media in the USA have been stoking the flames and mistrust of the voting process such that Donald Trump has never acknowledged Joe Biden’s election as President.
Over 74 million Americans voted for
Trump and that is a lot of disappointed voters – and easy to see how some could be manipulated into action.
Here in the UK we have a voting system that does not reflect the views of voters in first past the post.
The Conservative party won a large majority in
2019 with just 44 per cent of votes cast around the country, many votes are actually ‘wasted’ as they are cast in safe seats.
This has given the Conservatives a level of unprecedented power with very little accountability.
With proportional representation political diversity is reflected in Parliament, not suppressed. Proportional representation makes sure the share of seats each party gets matches the share of votes they receive.
It would mean that if a party gets 20 per cent of the vote, it wins 20 per cent of the seats. Parliament would accurately represent the people’s range of views and perspectives.
Is it time to reflect on moving to a fairer system?
Ensuring all voices are heard, all votes cast are valid and reflected in Parliament and stopping the two party system that removes true choice for the electorate.