Here are the letters from Friday’s Lynn News…
Why hold secrets over leadership?
The leader of the ruling Independent coalition has been changed, with barely a comment and certainly no explanation.
The Independents, a rag-bag of ex-Tory, ex-Labour and others, astonishingly formed the majority block last year.
In a loosely knit coalition with other parties they brought an end to decades of complacent and entitled Tory control of West NorfolkCouncil.
But months before the first year in power was up, a challenge to the leadership was announced. A secret ballot was held in May which the old leader lost.
But what was it all about?
I wrote to both asking them to explain the issues and arguing that the public, their electors, had a right to a full explanation.
Private words aside, to this day our Independents still hold secret how secure their new leader is.
Philip Wagstaff
Methwold
Let’s hope for an interesting result here
So a general election has been called, but will West Norfolk take the opportunity for change?
Having been misled into voting for the Tories and Boris Johnson at the last election, and for Brexit prior to that, has there been enough political mess to change West Norfolk minds?
The current MP has blindly voted with his party, doing exactly what his whips told him to do, even when it was obvious it was not in the best interests of the constituency. A prime example is the environment bill, which allowed water companies to dump more raw sewage into our rivers and coastline.
James Wild MP (Conservative for North West Norfolk) voted with the government, and now we see the damaging effects with people being advised not to swim in some places along the coast. And we see our chalk rivers being damaged by pollution.
All this when Mr Wild put the environment in his top priorities for the constituency.
And remember he’s from the same party as his next door neighbour MP, Liz Truss, a Prime Minister who lasted less time in office than a lettuce stayed fresh while causing your mortgage rates to shoot up.
The sad thing is that Labour, who have won this seat before (but with a large bribe from the Blair government to build the flyover at Hardwick roundabout) have only just chosen their candidate, and that candidate doesn’t appear to have much connection to West Norfolk.
The Norfolk Labour website doesn’t even list him as a candidate. Tim Leaver is a councillor in London currently, and having only just been appointed won’t have a grasp of the area or the issues faced by residents and businesses.
He must be a shortlist candidate who’s been flown in by central party. He may be an excellent candidate, but I’m struggling to find anything online that can supply me with more details.
The Lib Dems must be a little hopeful, as they’ve selected Rob Colwell as their parliamentary candidate.
He’s a well known local councillor, often seen berating James Wild and other Tories about the state of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, one of the magically invisible 40 new hospitals that our current government have supposedly delivered.
However, the Lib Dems have a huge mountain to climb if they were to overturn the seat, as they only got 3,625 votes in 2019, and the Tories got 30,627.
Sadly businesses don’t get a vote in the election, but the choice of our MP and ruling party will have a huge affect on our businesses, including the investment we can make and the employment we can offer. So hopefully West Norfolk will make a change from the Tories, and particularly from a lame duck MP who will always vote with his party and not for his constituents.
July 4 will bring some interesting results, lets just hope that North West Norfolk is one of them.
Jason Borthwick
Deepdale Camping & Rooms
We need a champion who knows area
Anyone following the progress of James Bagge's campaign to be SW Norfolk's next Independent MP will be totally aware that apart from a social conscience and an abiding commitment to this rural community the major driver for his decision to stand is to try and push Liz Truss into the long grass.
As part of his campaign, he's enlisted the support of The Man in The White Suit, Martin Bell, who'll no doubt add to the clamour surrounding her unpopularity and disinterest as our 'AWOL' MP.
One might choose to see this campaign as being driven by negativity and historically the kind of thing I'd deplore and regard as corrosive and depressingly redolent of modern politics but on this occasion, in spite of my scruples, I believe, he's bang on the money and has read the runes. The Tories have failed us and if there was an iconic representative of aloof, distant, and blatantly 'in denial' Member of Parliament it has to be the current candidate nominated by Swaffham Conservative Association originally parachuted into our midst from Tory central office as one of 'Cameron's Cuties'.
Fill your boots James... SW Norfolk needs a champion who actually lives here, knows the people, knows how to say Setchey and knows how we tick.
Steve Mackinder
Denver
This report lays bare pure arrogance
The findings relating to infected blood being given to patients has been scathing about successive UK governments and the NHS failing to take action. According to the media this will now cost billions of pounds in compensation. Many of us have to put our trust in the NHS when medical intervention is required and we vote for MPs of whatever party to look after our interests. However this report lays bare the pure arrogance of senior medical people and those MPs elected by us, the general public, to look after our interests.
Coupled with the Post Office scandal, where the compensation claims are still outstanding in most cases, it makes me wonder what is the point in casting my vote in any election in the future.
Sunak standing up and apologising for what happened in the past is pointless, he wasn't even born at the beginning of this scandal. He speaks empty words to those whose relatives died following being given infected blood.
He and the current government in power will only gain some kind of respect by making the huge compensation payouts immediately rather than pontificating as is often the case.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Alan Mudge
Pentney
Refreshing idea for a new station
Major plans for a new railway station near Lynn are to be welcomed after policies of successive governments over the decades in prioritising road transport over rail.
If it reduces traffic it is progress and a safer mode of travel.
The station would be located on the Lynn to London line and would be built on land to the south of the A47 between South Lynn and West Winch.
The geographical location is ripe for rail development and would be readily used by local residents with a population to support this extension.
Hopefully this could start more initiatives across the region and I have a recommendation of my own.
There are criteria for opening a new station between Watlington and Downham Market. Call it Stow Bridge Halt and in the process call into the Heron for a pint. It is the sort of stuff which helps save the pubs in West Norfolk from closure!
David Fleming
Downham