Letters for Wednesday, September 16...

Do not lower animal welfare standards

AS POLITICIANS return to Parliament after their summer break, they are faced with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect the UK’s farm animal welfare standards.

Failure to act now could result in a catastrophic weakening of the hard-won protections for millions of animals in this country.

We are calling on the people of Shropshire to sign our petition urging government to ban lower standard imports.

With three months until Brexit, the increasing risk of there being no deal with our European neighbours, and as a net importer of nearly 40 per cent of our food, the vast majority coming from the European Union (EU), the government has to feed the nation.

Manifesto promises and parliamentary pronouncements guaranteeing to protect our high welfare standards as we seek new trade deals around the globe have not been backed up by the legal protections that are essential to ensure government does not roll back on their commitment to protect British farmers and their animals.

The realities of chlorine washed chicken and hormone-treated beef ending up on our supermarket shelves have been well documented, but British consumers also face having products from pigs produced using sow stalls, banned in the UK since 1999, and egg products from laying hens kept in barren battery cages, also illegal in this country since 2012.

Lords are due to discuss this vital issue this week (September 17-22) – how we feed the nation and crucially where it comes from and how it is produced, is becoming an increasingly pressing issue and we know the public back our campaign to protect and enhance our food standards.

A recent survey showed 75 per cent of adults in the West Midlands region want government to honour its commitment not to lower animal welfare standards

Without clear legislation banning food produced to lower welfare standards from our shores, we rely totally on political promises and risk setting back animal welfare by decades, causing the suffering of more animals to produce the food on our plates and failing to protect British farmers.

We urge UK shoppers to sign our petition at www.rspca.org.uk/agribill in the hope that government will listen to the British public and protect our hard-won farm animal welfare.

Chris Sherwood,

CEO RSPCA

Gifts in wills help charity for the blind

Gifts in Wills have always been important to charities but never more so than this year.

During Covid-19, blind and partially sighted people have struggled to access essentials like food and medicine. Social distancing has made it hard for some people to get out at all.

Over the last six months, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has supported people with sight loss in numerous ways, including extending our helpline opening hours, offering new telephone services, such as Talk and Support, and securing priority supermarket delivery slots.

Gifts in Wills have been hugely important in funding this work, accounting for half of our voluntary income.

An increase in public awareness and more gifts left in Wills helps RNIB remove more barriers for blind and partially sighted people.

That’s why we’re supporting Remember a Charity Week, to celebrate all the amazing people who support blind and partially sighted people across the UK by leaving a gift to RNIB in their Will.

No matter how big or small, every gift counts and has a valuable impact.

You can pass on something amazing to people in years to come by leaving a gift in your Will.

Eleanor Southwood,

RNIB

RAF Benevolent Fund support available to all ex-servicemen

AS WE all mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the RAF Benevolent Fund is working to highlight the role of the many who each played a critical part in securing victory.

Many of them lived and worked in the West Midlands, home to not just airfields but also other critical installations such as radar.

Others in the region may recall seeing the dogfights in the skies during that summer of 1940.

To pay tribute to all those who worked towards victory, we created a poignant light show projected onto two radar sites with images of a range of RAF personnel from air crew to radar operators.

These help remind us of the many who supported the few, not just during the Second World War, but right up to the present day.

The RAF Benevolent Fund is there for the many – anyone who has ever served in the RAF.

We have a duty to support them in their time of need.

We all have a last chance to do our duty, just as they did theirs, by giving them and their families the support they deserve.

In 2019, the RAF Benevolent Fund spent nearly £500,000 supporting 206 beneficiaries in the West Midlands – but we know there are thousands more veterans out there in need of assistance.

Given the important role the RAF has played in the recent heritage of the region, we ask your readers to think if they know of any RAF veterans or their partners who may be in need of our support, particularly during this difficult time.

We can help them in so many ways.

To find out more or let us know of someone we might be able to help, please visit www.rafbf.org

Chris Elliot,

RAF Benevolent Fund

Please be sensible and avoid another lockdown

I HAVE let it be known many times in this column that I am a huge fan of this town.

It is beautiful, brilliant and a place where I can be happy.

Please don’t keep it away from me if we have to go into another lockdown – let’s be sensible and look after each other.

Steve Jacobs,

Wrexham