WHISPERING SMITH: Robert and Elizabeth, no poetry here...

He has all that he owns in a Sainsbury’s carrier bag plus some loose change in his pocket given to him by a passing stranger. His only luxury is a mobile phone given him by a charitable organisation for his protection on the mean night-time streets of Brighton. Robert is one of the poorest people in England. Elizabeth has 78 ‘Royal’ bedrooms in her palace, all en-suite, all with beds covered in duck down duvets and no doubt set upon interior sprung mattresses. She has works of art on her walls and horses in her stables. She has a wagon-load of flunkies to help and protect her throughout the day and night. Her home is being renovated at the expense of the tax-paying public to the tune of near on £370million. Elizabeth is one of the richest people in England. Austerity always harms the least well-off and the most vulnerable people in any society. It is little wonder that the electorate are fed up with this system. - LAST week I visited two churches of interest – first, Wimborne Minster, stunning in its complexity and content. The chained library, the coffin in the wall and the grand organ. Signing the visitor’s book I noted the previous visitor had written an expletive. M. Keen of wherever you are, why? Next, St Mary’s and St Peter’s on Hayling Island, at 1,000 years old one of the oldest Saxon churches in England. I got there a few years too late, it has been reordered in much the same way as Rustington church, bright and airy but without passion. The New Forest was lovely and I felt more at peace walking the woodland paths. --- Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage at www.littlehamptongazette.co.uk/ 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LittlehamptonGazette 3) Follow us on Twitter @LhamptonGazette 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! The Littlehampton Gazette - always the first with your local news. Be part of it.