Your views on the cost of living and Brexit, a fundraising thank you and Thought for the Week

Fares and other travel costs are up 6.4%. - Rail fares cost 3.5 per cent more than last year. Bus and coach fares are up 2.3 per cent over the same period but other travel costs have increased by 7.7 per cent.

Fuel and light are up 6.1 per cent. The price of fuel and light continues to rise. Electricity costs 9.6 per cent more. Coal and other fuels are well above inflation at 3.9 per cent and the price of gas has gone up 3.2 per cent.

Clothing and footwear are up 4.9 per cent. The price of women’s clothes has risen 8.8 per cent while men’s outerwear is 5.5 per cent more expensive than last year.

Leisure services are up 3.4 per cent. The price of holidays in the UK has risen 5 per cent over the past year while foreign holidays are up 3.6 per cent. Staying at home to watch TV is also hitting the poorer people with television licences and rentals up 4.6 per cent.

Catering is up 3.1 per cent. The cost of eating out is also rising faster than inflation. Take-away meals and snacks are 3.5 per cent more expensive than last year and restaurant meals are up 2.9 per cent.

So why the RPI for negotiations? The Retail Price Index reflects the actual price rises experienced by workers. The RPI has been going since 1947. It is still used to decide prices such as mobile phone bills, rail fares, student loans and sin taxes, such as alcohol.

Some employers prefer the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which the government introduced in 2004 as a measure of inflation. It does not include the price rises for our mortgages or foreign holidays.

But be aware, if the government has their way they would like to eliminate the RPI over the next 10 years.

The government wants to replace the RPI with a statistic that general produces a much lower figure (CPIH).

This will be used in a cynical attempt to permanently cap the expectations and pay of public sector workers.

But no doubt employers across the board will try to use this move to offer worse terms and conditions.

There must be a better way. Let’s keep publishing the real cost of living and why would you vote for a government that keeps you worse off?

Rodney Sadd

Trade union delegate for the constituency Labour Party

Spalding

Our flawed democracy sees the minority view prevail

Brexit has exposed the fragility of Britain’s democratic constitution which is destroying our nation’s social cohesion, the basis on which our representative democracy is built.

English is a global language and it is inevertable that the meaning attached to english words reflect a nuanced interpretation of the speaker’s native tongue.

In the Standard English Dictionary a democractic society is defined as one where sovereignty lies with the people.

The Encarta Foundation, a multinational consortium of lexicographers, have compiled a Dictionary of Global English which defines a democracy as a society in which sovereign power resides with ALL the people.

The difference is more than mere semantics.

Under the British Constitution, the power of sovereignty is concentrated around the leader of a party or faction that can command a majority in the House of Commons.The Prime Minister using the residual prerogative powers of the Monarch controls the Executive institutions of the state, controls the legislative process,determines fiscal and monetary policy and until recently controlled,the judiciary.

There is no effective separation of powers of government.The reality is that power in Britain is exercised by an elected dictatorship.

With apoligies to the memory of John Dunning: “The power of the executive has increased, is increasing and ought to be diminished.”

The 17.4 million who voted to leave the EU represent 37 per cent of those entitled to vote and in absolute terms is the largest democratic vote ever because the electorate is the biggest ever.

Up to the 1960s, in percentage terms, Tory and Labour were each regularly supported by over 45 per cent of those who voted.We will be Leaving the EU because 37 per cent of the total electorate want to leave and under our flawed democracy the view of a minority prevails.

In other democratic countries with constitutions that make provision for direct democratic referenda, they legitimise referendum outcomes through a weighted majority system.

A minority of the electorate cannot win referenda.

They do so to preserve their social cohesion and mitigate the damaging polerisation that threatens cohesion.

Brexiteer David Davis: “A democracy in which you cannot change your mind is not a democracy.”

Nigal Farage tweeted, after his milkshake encounter, for a civilised democracy to work you need the consent of the losers.

The consent of the losers implies compromise not enforced compliance.

There is no sign that the Brexiteer zealots are willing to compromise on anything. May’s withdrawal deal was was not perfect but a reasonable and acceptable compromise - but not to the Brexit Zealots who see the world the the prism of our national past.

The past is another country.

We are at a fork in the road. Whichever path we choose will involve major changes in our constitution, our

society and our economy if we are to rebuild the social cohesion that is the foundation of Britain’s repution and trustworthiness.

Paul Walls

Spalding

We raised £1, 274.24!

A coffee morning was held at the Broad Street Church Hall in Spalding on Saturday, September 21 in memory of a dear father and husband Eric Loveridge.

Twins Elaine Ladds and Diane Tilley and their mother Marlene chose this year Prostate Cancer UK.

We would like as a complete family not only to thank those who kindly came to help on the day but all the help and support with numerous donations too that were provided.

It was such an amazing event that not only did we feel humbled, but somewhat overwhelmed with the outcome.

There was an enormous amount of hard work to organize it all. On the day the coffee morning raised a total of £932.90. But also Elaine held cardmaking days in her Haven over the year and a further donation also raised £341.34.

So in total a fantastic £1,274.24 was achieved. A cheque to be presented to a Prostate Cancer UK representative in the near future. Thank you everyone again so very much.

Elaine Ladds

Fosdyke

Thought for the Week: Don't take all we have for granted

There is a woman in my life, who is friendly, polite and does what I ask. “Alexa, turn on the living room lamp” and the light comes on. It feels like magic, but it is 21st century technology that was science fiction when I was growing up.

We regard tablets, mobile phones and the Internet as just part of everyday life. Now we can scarcely remember when we did not have every scrap of information on the planet available at our fingertips.

When we take these, and so many others things, for granted we lose something. We lose our sense of wonder at the world we live in and we lose our sense of gratitude for all that we have. It is good sometimes to reflect on what we have and to count our blessings.

Churches keep Harvest Thanksgiving at this time of year. We give thanks for our food and the farmers who grow it, and we wonder at the natural processes behind it all.

In a well-known hymn we sing, “All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above; then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all his love”. I’ll ask Alexa to play it.

Rev John Bennett

St Mary and St Nicolas Church, Spalding