Letters to the editor: Will PM suffer similar fate to Churchill?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / File

After leading his nation to victory in World War II, Winston Churchill was soundly dumped as Prime Minister in 1945.

The war had scarcely ended but, somehow, it seemed the United Kingdom thought the awful price paid for defeating the Third Reich was all down to him.

I see the same thing happening here in New Zealand.

Caught unawares by a pandemic that required a rapid, decisive response, our Prime Minister took a bold initiative to save lives before anything else.

The naysayers already have her in their sights. It seems that, to them, the economic damage the country has endured is down to her ineptitude rather than the threat of Covid-19 decimating our population.

I have never been a Labour supporter but I have to admit, at age 40 and after one term in office, Jacinda Ardern will graduate from her apprenticeship with flying colours.

Or will she be crucified like Winston Churchill?

Ian Young
Papamoa

Call for zero rates increase

A headline does not tell the whole story.

With recognition of the current dire financial situation due to effects of Covid-19 on ratepayers, the Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association (PRRA) is asking Tauranga City Council to have a zero rates increase this year and defer the decision to control the kerbside pick-up of rubbish and recycling, which will add an additional cost of about $400 per year to each household.

Not all households can readily pay these increases.

The association also calls on the council to explain in detail to the ratepayers where it will spend their rates.

Philip Brown
Chairman
PRRA