Your views on West Walton restaurant charges, politics and health

Here are the letters from the Fenland Citizen of Wednesday, February 1, 2023...

Cake charge was just far too much

Five friends and I recently visited Worzals Bar and Grill in West Walton to celebrate one of our birthdays.

Between us we spent more than £150 on food and drink and, although I thought £14.65 for my (very nice) chicken,

bacon and halloumi salad and £7.95 for glass of wine was far from cheap, I was happy to pay.

However, the whole occasion was slightly soured by a

conversation I had with a member of staff before our celebrations.

We had checked in advance that we could bring a cake we had bought and had made for the ‘birthday girl’, so it could be brought to the table when appropriate.

I was happy to pay for this service but really shocked on arrival to be told the charge to cut and serve it would be £25.

I think this is extortionate. What do other readers think?

Jose Whitehead

Via email

Avoiding tax should be rooted out

Nadim Zahawi, chair of the Tory party, last year Chancellor of the Exchequer, famously claimed public money to warm his stables.

The same entrepreneurial spirit inspired him to try to avoid paying tax on £20million he made selling shares - at a time when many, forced onto pre-payment meters, literally cannot afford to heat their homes in the freezing cold.

Zahawi should resign, and tax avoidance should be rooted out. But the much bigger issue is the spiralling wealth of the rich per se.

As billionaires and their hangers-on met in the Alpine resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum, Oxfam revealed dramatic figures about the growth of global wealth inequality.

Almost two-thirds of new wealth in two years up to the end of 2021 went to the richest 1%. For each £1 gained by people in the bottom 90%, each billionaire gained £1.7 million. The wealth of billionaires has grown by over £2 billion a day.

Oxfam is calling for heavier taxes on the rich. That it falls to a liberal charity to make that call is sad comment on the lack of vigour of the labour movement.

Despite the growing strikes, our unions do little to put forward different economic policies. Nodding to “socialism” at left-wing meetings is one thing; fighting for serious changes to reverse capital’s assault on the working class is, it seems, more difficult.

The Oxfam report adds to the great piles of evidence, reinforcing lived reality, that the labour movement could mobilise in a vibrant campaign.

We need a new tax on wealth.

John Smithee

Wisbech

EDITOR: This letter was submitted before Mr Zahawi was sacked on Sunday.

Are they regulating population?

We all know natural selection regulates the balance of life on earth. Animals, birds, and bees live, die and eat each other in the food chain.

However, as we head into climate change , I can’t help but think some governments are creating a plan to regulate the human population.

The Rosicrucians believe the world can only sustain a human population of 500,000, so with the world population growing to eight billion, some serious natural selection is on the cards. Normally we cull by having wars. However, a new system appears in our midst. We all know if you are wealthy and can afford private health care, you’re likely to live longer, while the poor who cannot afford GP appointment charges etc, will live short lives.

In fact, since 2000, life expectancy has peaked and decreased in correlation with the increase in poverty.

Despite paying national insurance for free health care at source, prescriptions aren’t free any more. If GPs charge for appointments the poor will not have early diagnosis and intervention and die younger. That means depopulation via state-sponsored genocide.

Mark Burton

Chatteris