IT is not often that I am moved to put pen to paper, especially if it is in response to some right wing claptrap spouted by one of our esteemed councillors.

However, I could not in good conscience allow Coun Garry Perkins' rant against the Government's Educational Maintenance Allowance scheme for 16 to 19-year-olds to go unchallenged.

First of all, if a student qualifying for EMA gets the full amount set aside by Central Government the sum will be less than £2,000 a year, not £3,000 as stated.

Secondly, Coun Perkins must be blessed with the gift of foresight as he stated that the allowance will not be spent on books but on beer and funding the student's social life.

If Councillor Perkins can foresee the future why I might ask are Swindon's council-led services in such a mess?

My 16-year-old daughter may or may not qualify for EMA next year but if she does it will ease the burden on a family that would otherwise struggle to make ends meet.

My daughter already works at weekends while studying for GCSEs and is predicted to get 14 at grades A to C.

She is, I would argue, unlikely to spend any of her allowance on socialising.

At the end of the day it appears that Coun Perkins has taken against an allowance that will only go to the poorest families in our society.

He decries the shortage of blue-collar workers which, in his opinion, this allowance will make worse not better.

However, this allowance is available to students taking vocational courses as well.

What I would argue is that Coun Perkins cannot bear to see this country's wealth being redistributed to the poorest members of society.

He obviously believes than students from families whose joint income is less that £30,000 cannot be trusted to study and use their allowances responsibly.

Perhaps all of Coun Perkins' constituents whose joint income is less than £30,000 and whose children's lives may be eased by this new scheme should seek to replace him at their earliest opportunity.

DEREK H FRY

Moredon