From: "nicholas royall", [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Mr Cheshire, I am moved to write to you with regard to a couple of related items to one which I raised at the NRA summer general meeting. At the time I asked what liabilities the NRA were landed with over the building of the shotgun layout and Sport England's refusal to release lottery funding due to rather irregular agreements over shotgun shooting at Bisley. John de Havilland said categorically that there would be no financial burden to the NRA so perhaps you could give an explanation as to why the NRA is now, according to rumour, some 1.5 million in debt. It also appears as though some panicky decisions were made to partially cover this by increasing the annual subscription for ordinary members by 30% and imposing a tax on club membership to the tune of 1 pound per member without giving any rights at all. I should like to know on what basis under club law this is allowable, I suggest that the NRA charter does not permit a levy on membership via clubs without giving voting rights and the decision to do this should be put to the membership at the Spring General meeting since individual members would have to pay twice for the same pleasure (work it out, how many clubs have members that have already paid via another club?) where the life members who made these decisions pay nothing. I am informed that the solicitors who acted for the NRA and other parties in the decisions which have now cost us so much have been sacked, does this reflect upon their dealing in other areas such as the defence of the NRA's charitable status, a subject they took so much money for and for whose benefit when 2 of their number sit upon Council? I gather from Ian Brown's open letter to John de Havilland that the Charity Commissioners are still unhappy with the NRA's responses over the shotgun layout funding and usage, perhaps you could make the NRA's position on this matter clear because there is very little in the way of clear leadership from Bisley on this one and this will lead to more rumour and guesswork. I also read it as arrogance from those we elected in their failure to tell people the truth about what is being done in our name and this can lead to shooting being ridiculed yet again in the press, a situation we can all do without with the smell of an election in the air. To recap, I look forward to an explanation as to what is the NRA's response to the Charity Commissioners enquires, a full disclosure on the dealings and possible conflicts of interests between The NRA, Wilson's and other parties re BSG Ltd and others and the legal status of the 1 pound a head membership tax levied by the NRA upon affiliated clubs. Yours sincerely, Nicholas Royall Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01