Crewe's Miracle Merlin - Letter to the Crewe Chronicle.

Crewe's Miracle Merlin - Letter to the Crewe Chronicle.

It was with delight that I glimpsed two Avro Lancaster Bombers pass over Nantwich en-route to the Southport Air Show last Saturday, as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The thrill of hearing – and feeling - the hum of 8 Rolls-Royce Merlin Engines was a stark reminder of the important part that Crewe played in the defence of our country in its darkest hour, and in the defeat of fascism in Europe.

The performance and reliability of the Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine gave the RAF a key advantage over the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, thus preventing German Arial Supremacy and forcing Hitler to abandon his invasion plans. I sincerely hope that all school children in Crewe are taught about the 15,000 Merlin Engines built in their town and are proud of this important contribution to the freedoms we enjoy today.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine and the wonderful aircraft it powered should also serve as reminder of the vital importance of science, technology and engineering to our freedom and prosperity.

British Technical Developments like Alan Turing’s ‘Colossus’ decoding machine, Watson-Watt’s Radar and Randall and Boot’s Cavity-Magnetron not only turned the tide of the war, but also shape many aspects of modern world we take for granted, like Satellite Navigation, Mobile Communications and the Computing Revolution.

I hope that our young people are inspired by the stories of these engineering marvels (as I was) and consider entering the Technical Professions our country needs so much. I am extremely encouraged by the news of the new University-Technical College planned for Crewe - but how about naming it after Crewe’s most famous V12 engine?

Stuart Hutton CEng MIET

UKIP Crewe and Nantwich.

Scathing Attack - Letter to the Crewe Chronicle 25/09/14

Thanks to Mick Roberts for his letter of 24/09/14, ‘Help for Masses, not just Rich Few’.

First he criticised the government for ‘privatising the NHS’. The NHS was effectively privatised under the last Labour government when it was sold down the river to ‘Private Finance Initiatives’, the debts for which now cripples our Health Service. Indeed, the debt burden of these arrangements is forcing 22 NHS Trusts across the country into huge deficit, necessitating bailouts from the taxpayer.

 

A recent report from the National Audit Office revealed that the repayments on these PFI deals made under Labour will total £8.6bn next year alone. Many of these loans extend for between 30 and 60 years. Perhaps even more scandalously, the report showed that the £121bn outstanding on these loans is for projects worth only £52bn to the taxpayer. We are literally paying twice, thanks to Labour’s ‘cooking the books’ and profligacy with our children's and grandchildren’s money.

 

I find it incredulous to hear Mr Roberts, and his party’s health spokesman, Andy Burnham MP (who signed over 220 PFI agreements as Health Minister) now criticise others for ‘privatisation by stealth’ of the NHS.

 

Mr Roberts also criticises the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. He is right to do so. However, the enforced privatisation of the NHS should be the least of his worries about the TTIP. The ‘Investor-State Dispute Settlement’ clause gives big corporations carte blanche to sue democratically elected governments for policies which they believe their hinder their business, whether or not they are in the best interests of the electorate. It is an affront to democracy.

 

The TTIP agreement is being imposed on us by the EU, (as usual without any sort of consultation or vote in our parliament). Through his membership of the Labour Party, which is unequivocal in its support for the EU, Mr. Roberts embraces the TTIP and all its clauses without question.

 

He then goes on to bemoan low wages and the huge numbers of young people without work. Again, he is right to do so, albeit short-sighted in laying the blame. Rates for labour - or anything for that matter - are not set by the government; they are the subject of market forces – the ‘gravity’ of economics. 

The uncontrolled oversupply of (largely unskilled) labour from Europe as a result of Peter Mandelson’s ‘search parties’ has depressed wages and deprived our young of the service sector jobs which traditionally provide a first step on the employment ladder.

 

I bear Mr Roberts no ill, but I hope that in pointing out just some of the many ways in which Labour has betrayed British Working People, he and others will reconsider their misguided support for this disgraceful outfit.

Stuart Hutton CEng MIET

UKIP Crewe and Nantwich