Dear Editor,

CLASS of '76 - Writhlington Secondary School, school reunion.

Please may I use the journal's letter page to tell people about a school reunion we are having. This is for Writhlington secondary school pupils that started in September 1971 and left around May 1976.

This year we are celebrating 50 years since leaving school and it would be lovely to see as many of you as possible.

The reunion is taking place on Friday, June 12, from 7pm at the Centurion Hotel bar, Charlton Lane, Midsomer Norton. BA3 4BD.

Many thanks

Shelley Rees-Langley and Sally Buxton (Dando)

Dear Editor

I WAS impressed to learn recently that Michael D Higgins, sociologist and Labour Party politician known for his focus on social justice, and inclusive citizenship, 9th President of Ireland from November 2011 to November 2025, received an annual salary of €250,000 over his presidency, having requested during his first term that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform reduce his salary by 23.5 per cent from €325,000.

In contrast, UK public sector bosses salaries have escalated hugely during Tory rule, with over 4,700 council employees earning more than £100,000. In 2024/25 top earners, including council and HS2 executives, often received pay packages exceeding £300,000 to £600,000, frequently surpassing the Prime Minister’s salary. Why has this been allowed to continue one might ask when council's are failing to meet their obligations to provide proper services, even when many good staff have been made redundant and council tax has risen exponentially. It is worth noting however that as of April 2025, the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the UK were £33,923 and to justify the differential we are told that despite failing services the increases in senior staff pay in all sectors is necessary to attract, retain, and motivate highly skilled individuals needed to manage complex public services and deliver government priorities.

A further interesting rise in costs is the real cost of the Royal Family to taxpayers of £510m a year, to including £99m from the property businesses of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, that should go to the public purse, rather than funding the King and the Prince of Wales. However, the keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, who looks after the King's financial affairs, has previously spoken of the "determination to deliver value for money" in royal finances. On top of this the Labour government have recently agreed to give Charles, now a billionaire, between £23-million and £46-million to fund a national memorial statue and surrounding memorial projects for Queen Elizabeth II, a monarch significantly more expensive than her father’s (King George VI) in terms of nominal costs, largely due to the massive inflation over her 70-year reign and the sheer scale of modern royal events. It is also important to mention the costs to the taxpayer of the lavish lifestyle of her children, notably Andrew whilst being paid as UK Trade Envoy generating excessive hotel bills, including booking entire floors for himself with one hotel bill amounting to £50,000. The sheer scale of these figures are mind-boggling compared to the lives of working people who mainly fund the nation's income tax wealth.

Irrespective of this, successive governments since the banking crisis of 2008 introduced austerity for taxpayers stifling growth, and Labour recently implemented or proposed significant spending reductions, primarily targeting social security, welfare, and public service budgets to achieve an estimated £5-billion in annual savings by 2030. Key cuts have included reducing Universal Credit health elements for new claimants, tightening disability benefit (PIP) assessments, restricting the winter fuel allowance, and reducing civil service jobs.

Unfortunately, politicians like Michael D Higgins are rare, and labour income inequality has been a huge factor in the growing gap between rich and poor, and government tax and spending policies have significant effects on income distribution. Research has generally linked economic inequality to political and social instability, democratic breakdown and civil conflict and greater inequality hinders economic growth. The Green Party has proposed a policy that would make it illegal for the highest-paid employee in any public or private sector organisation to earn more than ten times (10:1 ratio) the salary of the lowest-paid worker to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, reduce income inequality and generate economic growth by strengthening consumer demand, boosting productivity, and ensure greater social stability.

This government should take note that by adopting these same principles they will seek the economic growth they talk so much about, and rejoing the European Union could boost UK economic growth further by eliminating trade barriers (Brexit reduced GDP by six to eight per cent) restoring frictionless access to the Single Market, and reducing the administrative costs of "rules of origin" compliance.

Yours sincerely,

Delyth Morris

Peasedown St John

Dear Editor,

WHEN my family needed to close the Palladium Cinema in Midsomer Norton (now Wetherspoon's Palladium Electric) in 1993 for economic reasons, many reminisced about their happy times there, especially various married couples who had their first dates in the famous double seats in the back rows of the balcony.

In view of this, readers might like to learn that the Palladium will feature in a new exhibition about local cinemas at the Museum of Bath at Work, running from May 9 for six months. This includes a pair of those double seats, which we had stashed away the past several decades.

Duncan Steel

Camerton

Dear Editor, 

THIS May, I’m asking people to take on British Heart Foundation’s Dechox Challenge and give up chocolate for a month.

By taking on the challenge, you’ll be giving your own health a boost in the process by reducing your sugar intake, and the money raised plays a vital part in helping fund BHF’s lifesaving cardiovascular research. In the UK, around 8 million people are living with cardiovascular disease, the world’s biggest killer. Everyone knows somebody affected, whether it’s a family member, friend, colleague, or even themselves.

Our goal is to create a world where everyone has a healthy heart for longer – by going choc-free for a month you can help us get there. Visit bhf.org.uk/dechox to sign up, and know that every craving you conquer helps support groundbreaking research for people living with heart and circulatory diseases across the UK this May.

Yours sincerely, 

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, British Heart Foundation CEO