Our readers from across the county give their weekly take on the biggest issues impacting Kent and beyond.

Some letters refer to past correspondence which can be found by clicking here. Join the debate by emailing letters@thekmgroup.co.uk

Give us better alternatives to using roads

I must take issue with several concerns raised by R.A.Tebbutt last week. To give the impression that people without cars are ignored is wrong.

I agree with the creation of bus lanes to help those who either cannot or choose not to use a car but these should be seen as a short-term measure. These lanes are expensive to build and actually reduce the speed of other traffic when the aim should be to help the flow of all traffic.

There are other measures each small by themselves but adding up to a large amount in time and money, such as pedestrianisation, footbridges and crossing timings.

As for the current situation, I blame poor planning over several decades where the allowance of new and the conversion of buildings to house more residents without addressing the parking needs and traffic flow has led to pavement parking and overcrowded roads. Often local council objection is cancelled by a higher authority.

To imply that the government is locked into a fossil fuel economy is misleading when the present investment in alternatives such as wind and solar is colossal. The help with heat pumps, insulation and other more controversial schemes such as tidal barrages and nuclear power is also being actively pursued.

Another implication is that because the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) is of no benefit to people without a car it is of no use at all. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. People without cars actually rely as much if not more than others for deliveries to warehouses, local shops and home deliveries.

The LTC is only one of many proposals across the country that would help the flow of traffic. Should they all be cancelled or just this one?

Why pick on cars? People use cars for work or to get to places where public transport is either non-existent or infrequent, the difficulties encountered with luggage and high cost when compared with carrying two or more passengers is also a factor. Car use will increase as the population increases, unless something radical happens like the ready availability of personal drones.

Being parochial, the LTC will provide an alternative route for all traffic travelling to or from the North and East of England into Kent and onto the continent. It is not often appreciated that many lorries from the continent actually travel across to Ireland using England as a “land bridge” as this provides a cheaper, quicker and possibly more comfortable journey. The LTC would take this traffic away from the Dartford Crossing.

Finally, does anyone think a car driver would use our existing road network on a daily basis if there were a better alternative?

Brian Barnard

Rail line failure is a sign of the times

When I heard the news about the government decision involving the failure and axing of the northern leg of HS2 between Manchester and Birmingham, it occurred to me that this stood in stark contrast to the success and opening of the Manchester to Liverpool line back in 1830.

It was a reflection of Britain at that time; confident and innovative and sure about the future. It was a country on the eve of becoming, in the 19th century, the most powerful industrial and imperial power on earth. I say that not with nationalistic pride, but as a statement of fact.

Designed by the engineering genius, George Stephenson, his line was to be the first inter-city railway in the world and would depend for its success on newly-invented locomotives, powered by steam.

Although initially designed to carry raw cotton from the port of Liverpool to the textile mills of Manchester and manufactured cotton cloth in return for export, it was in its transport of passengers that it was truly revolutionary. It was this aspect which, as the railway network spread, would go on to transform the lives of millions of people in Britain and as other countries followed our example, ultimately, the world.

Fast forward 193 years and ask the question: “Where are we with rail transport today?”

Well, by way of comparison, at present Britain has 70 miles of high-speed track with 137 under construction and Spain has 2,670 miles of that track with another 850 under construction. It has to be said that Britain is smaller than Spain and more crowded and built up.

However, in Spain the government gave the state railway infrastructure company the money to build the lines and in Britain that didn’t happen. Then, with the government in control, as the Guardian newspaper put it, with HS2, it started, stopped, started, stopped, hesitated, re-examined, dithered, rethought, cut back and finally cancelled.

If Stephenson’s 1830 line was a sure-footed and monumental success, our 2023 HS2 has been a systematic failure. In that, it seems to reflect much of the economic, social and political life in Britain today - with people unhappy with the present and uncertain about their place in the world and the future.

Having said that, one thing is certain: By making the decision to sell off the land bought by compulsory purchase to facilitate building the line, the government is ensuring that no future government will be able to resurrect it, which means it is effectively dead and buried for the foreseeable future.

I therefore conclude that the sorry saga of HS2 really is a reflection of Britain today.

John Cooper

Stop cruel politics over refugees

For months, we’ve heard government ministers demonising refugees, touting the use of barges and former military camps for asylum accommodation despite their clear unsuitability, and generally filling the airwaves with misinformation on this important issue.

What Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman always fail to mention is that, among European countries, the UK receives relatively few asylum applications and a minuscule number compared to countries like Lebanon or Bangladesh.

Ministers also neglect to acknowledge that seeking asylum is an international human right and literally a matter of life and death for people fleeing places like Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

What’s particularly shocking – even more shocking than the illegality of the Rwanda scheme and the Legionella-hit Bibby Stockholm barge – is that the government has recently passed legislation that will actually prevent officials from even processing future asylum applications.

Meanwhile, the government’s refusal to open safe routes for refugees to reach the UK is forcing ever more people into the hands of unscrupulous smugglers and onto unseaworthy boats.

Ministers must drop this cruel politicking over refugees, end their campaign of misinformation, and ensure that the UK is genuinely a safe haven for those fleeing conflict and persecution.

Graham Minter, Amnesty International Kent Network

Speeding past horses is a danger

With reference to the 20mph speed limit, it is even less for going past horses which is now 10 mph.

A lot slower than people realise and which most motorists do not comply with, especially on narrow country lanes.

The worst offenders are cyclists, who hurtle past at god knows what speed. No wonder they get a poor reputation and I'm sure most of these cyclists drive a car, so they should know better. Well, they say ignorance is bliss.

K. Griggs

Caught out by going cashless

Since the start of Covid in 2020, I've only ever used a bank card.

I have noticed a big blip though. The bank tells me you don't get infinite swipes and there will come a time when the machine says the PIN is required.

The problem with this for some people is that on buses their machines incorporate contactless card payments and sometimes it will decline. The bus machines do not have a PIN or keypad, so you cannot use it as a PIN card. Quite a serious fault I would say.

Since I retired I sold my car to walk everywhere. I get on the bus some mornings and some people’s cards are declined. The bus drivers have to tell them to get off the bus as none of them have any cash on them.

One guy demanded the bus wait while he ran to the cash machine at the nearby supermarket. The bus driver said only if you take two minutes max. He ran for his life and back again but this is not acceptable for other passengers.

Robert Schroeder

Resisting the urge to ditch change

Change will soon be old-fashioned as we are moving towards a cashless society.

No more flipping a coin to make a decision or hearing the words 'penny for the guy', 'put your money where your mouth is,' and 'strapped for cash'.

Buskers will see a marked drop in their income and amusement arcades will also be a casualty of card and digital payments as they have to face the challenge of surviving without change for customers to play their machines.

But, it would seem, cash is currently experiencing a resurgence due to the cost-of-living crisis as people want to keep track of their expenditure and watch the pennies.

It is unlikely that cash will disappear completely from circulation and although ATMs are diminishing in number, they may yet be spared extinction by those who prefer to have 'cash in hand'.

Michael Smith

Elite cabal is determined to reverse Brexit

By what right does Ray Duff – or any other Remainer - have to speak for the 17.4 million who voted for Brexit?

The answer to that question is none whatever. And likewise what evidence does he have to support his sweeping assertion that the majority would now vote to rejoin the EU given the chance?

The majority of Remain voters accepted the result of both the referendum and two general elections, but the all-powerful political elite never did (despite assurances to the contrary). In fact, from day one it did everything possible to sabotage Brexit and make it unworkable.

This unelected and unaccountable cabal believes in neither democracy nor in the right – or even in the capability - of the British People to govern their own affairs. And it still works behind the scenes to overturn the result and to shackle us again to EU tyranny.

Boris Johnson was returned with a thumping majority to ‘deliver Brexit’ but flunked it. His failure to match the ruthlessness, fanaticism and intolerance of the Remain lobby with equal resolve, allowed them instead to set the agenda and dictate terms - ‘must have a deal, blah, blah, blah’ – when he should have swept them side (which is what the Remain lobby would have done had things gone their way).

If Remoaners still can’t or won’t accept the will of the people, may I suggest that they go and live in the EU where they have 27 different states to choose from. And preferably ASAP.

John Helm