LETTER: Breathtaking lack of knowledge of councillor

The most amazing bit of her letter was the fact that she thinks that the council have any say at all on the behaviour of big business. The notion that Primark might want to discuss whether or not it stays in Rotherham’s town centre with the council shows a breathtaking lack of knowledge about how capitalism works.

The function of a business like Primark and indeed of all businesses is to make a profit. Their first responsibility is to the shareholders and if they feel that they can make better profits by moving elsewhere then they will do that. It is that simple. They are not in the business of charity work. She should know this.

Secondly, her approach to those people who are homeless and struggling is just frightening. She says “not all those who are begging are homeless or struggling”, implying in her own words there that a considerable number are.

It seems that her approach to it is to ignore them all, or clear them off the streets regardless. ( To where? ). She needs to consider some very real statistics here, and more importantly talk to people at Shiloh or Lighthouse or food banks.

They will soon tell you who is real and genuine, and I think she would find the result of that little excursion very enlightening. Unfortunately it would probably not support her theory, so I doubt whether she will do it.

The current raid on our public services and the growth of profits in the banking and the business sector are the results of a policy she had her party supports. No wonder her letter is so unpleasant and uninformed.   

Jo Burton, South Anston