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EUvote needs careful thought MailMarks





IN the next fewweeks you and I will cast probably the most important vote of our lives. I have studied hard and made upmy mind to vote to leave the EU – and it will take something very persuasive to change it. Most of my Maidstone friends appear to be broadly in the same position. I become increasingly concerned about


the serious detrimental impact ofEUmem- bership on so many aspects of our lives and lack of national power to do much about it. I have enjoyed living in Maidstone for


about 55 years and am not surprised both foreigners and British wish to live here. But what will happen to us and our town un- less we as a nation have firm control over our borders and decide how many and who we welcome from the rest of the world? In my travels among the British I see this


view mirrored by so many. I now expect a thumping majority for Brexit. For so long South East England has been


about the most overcrowded part of Eu- rope. In the last few years this has esca- lated powerfully. Unlesswe leave the EU it will get worse. The impact has been massive on housing growth, traffic movement, education places, NHS and welfare services, care of our aged… Nationally the welfare bill is crippling


our sick economy, and financial cuts forced by our Government are really hurting lo- cally – ask KCC and Maidstone Council and many local organisations losing finan- cial support. Where will the Chancellor of


Quashing NHS myths


Dear Sir – In a recent Mail Marks Dennis Fowle repeats some old myths about the NHS that need squashing. Recycled regularly, especially by those whowant to convince us thatwe can no longer afford an NHS andwe should be thinking of charges, an insurance system or privatisation, they include:  Charging would


Dr Paul Hobday


help:No it wouldn’t. It just shifts the costs to the poor and the elderly who are less healthy than other


groups. The Germans gave this up after the failure of a six-year experiment. The evidence is that it encourages the “worried well” but deters the poor sick, which costs more in the long run. The US Commonwealth Fund rates the UK NHS as the most cost-effective healthcare system in the world.  Ageing population: Exaggerated. Most


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Stephen Eighteen Editor stephen@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 231


34 Maidstone East March 2016 Diane Nicholls


Assistant editor diane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 232


Jane Shotliff Journalist


jane@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


Dawn Kingsford


Journalist dawn@downsmail.co.uk 01622 734735 ext 233


DENNISFOWLE President dfowle2011@aol.com


the Exchequer look next in his desperation to balance the books? I love Europe, but have had enough of


the EU unless there are fundamental changes. Our Prime Minister is discover- ing these will not happen. I find myself in great sympathy with a paragraph in an article written by ToryMP Peter Lilley, who is voting to leave. “Our membership no longer serves any function in a body whose primary purpose (politi- cal union) we reject, whose main projects (the euro and Schengen)we are not part of, whose laws we find onerous and whose economic attractions have turned into costs.” He has the knowledge to be convinced


that Brexit can be achieved smoothly and with no losses (even a profit) to our export trade. I can understand most international con- glomerateswanting to retain our EUmem- bership. But they view things from a very different angle. And I find many smaller business people will vote to leave for both business and personal reasons. There seems to be wide belief that Eu-


rope will wish to continue to trade with Britain – andwe will be able to trade much more freely with the rest of the world.


money is spent in the last six months of life, irrespective of how old you are.  Costs too much: Wrong.We spend less


on health than the other G7 nations and in the last few years, the percentage of GDP spent has fallen from 11% to a lile over 7%. This is a political choice, not economics. We are 27th out of 29 EU countries in the number of doctors per head of population. The NHS is not unaffordable or unsustainable but underfunded. The cost of your GP per year per head is £74 inWest Kent. Try insuring your cat or car for that.  It’s abused: Greatly exaggerated, according to the evidence. This is not the cause of the NHS’s problems. Contrast that with the private US system that the Government is so keen on:waste $690bn, overcharging $750bn, fraud $98bn. The USA spends three times as much per head with worse results. It’s time the subtle but relentless campaign by the media and politicians to undermine our health service stopped. Correcting some of the anti-NHS propaganda is a start. Dr Paul J Hobday, Churn Lane, Horsmonden





The economic arguments seem likely to dominate the next few weeks. I accept the el- ement of risk. But weighed against all I in- creasingly dislike about the EU – and the economic and other dangers facing that huge body – I believe it is a challengewe can meet. We are about to make a decision so vital to


our future and that of generations to come. There are many sides to the argument and no one can cast this vote with complete certainty. For me the balance is now heavilyweighted.


Cllr Carter’s dilemma IAMpleased Cllr Paul Carter acknowl-


edged that he attended a Maidstone Local Plan protest meeting as an aggrieved resi- dent – with about 1,000 houses planned close to his Langley home – and not as KCC leader. KCChas a responsibility to ensure success


of the local plan, mainly relating to infra- structure, and Cllr Carter must lead respon- sibly.


There are top politicians in the borough


who ask very serious questions. A first job for Cllr Carter is to correct a county-wide map showing Maidstone’s housing figure to 2031 in the 16,000s when it is in the 18,000s. Who is still playing games? I note Swale’s housing figure, praised by


some Maidstone plan opponents, has been rejected by a Government inspector as too low – and Swale’s urgently needed local plan will be delayed. Maidstone too needs an approved plan urgently.


Leave our park alone


Dear Sir – I feel I must write to defend Mote Park against ideas put forward by Mr Fowle in his musings in Mail Marks in this edition of the Downs Mail. He thinks that the next area for the council


to consider is the “large grassed area lined with lovely trees” between the MoteAvenue entrance and exit roads, which he thinks should make a lovely surfaced car park. To make maers worse he suggests two


or three “quality” restaurants in the same area.We have more than enough concrete and Tarmac in the park already. Starting with the leisure centre and Maidstone Bowls Club premises all built on part of the park, not to mention the retirement village and the park and ride,


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