I HAVE been a reader, man and boy, of the Yorkshire Post for more than 60 years and I never thought to see it sink to the level of the Murdoch "redtop" and other tabloids.
Yes, the Duchy of Cornwall brings in a lot of money, (Yorkshire Post, June 27), but the Prince of Wales has built up a successful business.
He would be rightly criticised if he had not done so.
Everyone in the higher-tax bracket, particularly the self-employed, sets business expenses against the 40 per cent band of tax and, therefore no one pays 40 per cent of his income. Remember, the Prince and his wife are not supported through the Civil List.
The attack on the Duchess of Cornwall is particularly nasty. She has conducted herself with dignity and decorum and has not indulged in cheap photo opportunities and self-publicity.
Why give prominence to
the bile of a clearly bitter
ex-employee, Dickie Arbiter? Given Charles Clarke's attack on Tony Blair and John Reid and the whole Government in shambles, there were more serious matters for your headlines.

From: Jim Beck, Lindrick Grove, Tickhill, Doncaster.
A SPOKESMAN for Prince Charles explains the apparent disparity between his income of just over £14m and his tax of just over £3m (a tax rate of only 23 per cent) by saying that the Prince runs his affairs as a business and is entitled to deduct expenses before paying tax, at 40 per cent or whatever (Yorkshire Post, June 27).
A commercial business would regard the former figure as gross income, without having it seized upon as a headline, and would declare a net income upon which tax is payable. If the Prince were to do the same, surely he would be providing less ammunition for the Republicans?
Could some accounting wizard explain the flaw in my reasoning?

Power comes from barrel of a gun
From: Peter Williamson, Baildon.
I WAS absolutely amazed by the editorial comment "Human rights and wrongs" (Yorkshire Post, June 27). So, the European Convention on Human Rights was to prohibit signatory states from rounding up, gassing, and cremating any of their citizenry?
I had not realised that the position before this Convention permitted such things.
In fact, at no stage was it legal to do so under German law – the Law of Murder held sway, and in this context I would refer to the sermon by Bishop Clemens August von Galen in Munster which attacked the Gestapo openly and the T-4 Euthanasia Programme specifically. In fact, he was recently beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.
In Nazi Germany, it was the lawyers who proved to be the most accommodating group and the one professional group not to have been de-Nazified post-war. The lawyers were the ardent Nazis.
The Charter of the League of Nations itself did not permit minorities to be mistreated and both Poland and Czechoslovakia were given stiff warnings by the League in the period after the First World War for their abuse of minorities. It was, after all, Poland under Sanacja which restricted Jews at university, making them sit separately.
In short, none of these Conventions means anything at all. Mao Tse-tung was right: "Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun."
We live in a crackpot world where people think Anglo-Saxon values should voluntarily be adopted by the rest of the world, regardless of our economic and military power to enforce them. These values are not respected by much of the world, especially in Asia and Africa. Should our military and economic power fade, so will they. Lawyers are not the front line. Unfortunately, that consists of 18-year-old squaddies with inadequate equipment.

Call for zero tolerance
From: Ray Wilkes, Tower Road, Shipley.
I LARGELY agree with Allan Ramsey (Yorkshire Post, June 27) about the unfairness to pedestrians and cyclists caused by bad driving.
However, it is also unfair to motorists if the Highway Code is not enforced, as many more motorists are killed and injured than any other group, and even when there are no casualties, cars get wrecked and insurance goes up. Additionally, crashes often cause severe congestion.
If there was a clear resolve by the highways authorities and police to enforce the Highway Code with zero tolerance for transgression, every road user would be much better off, especially motorists.
More people would then walk and cycle, so the drivers would have less congested roads as well as lower insurance bills. Road casualties cost the economy two per cent of Gross Domestic Product, and this hits all our pockets.

Mast trial welcomed
From: Simon Froom, Beast Fair, Snaith.
I WOULD like to welcome the very recent decision of East Riding Council's planning committee to grant planning permission to the proposed wind monitoring mast near Snaith. This is clearly a victory for common sense.
The mast will be a minor feature on the landscape and will only exist for two years at most, when it will have no discernible impact on anyone. It is, of course, possible that the data it yields will show that a wind farm cannot be profitably operated there. In which case, it will be in no one's interest, including that of the developer, that it be built there.
I am sure we will see wind farm opponents siting the recent reports of bird kills in Smola, Norway, as a reason not to build one near Snaith. Before they do, they should note that the RSPB welcomes well-sited wind farms and have expressed no concerns regarding the Snaith proposals. They were concerned by the Smola development from an early stage.

Keep ban
on whaling
From: Horace A Parkinson, Mowbray Road, South Common, Thorne, Doncaster.
AFTER the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting, which ended with talk of compromise with a key victory for pro-whaling nations, Japan says some anti-whaling nations are softening their stance. Despite decades of encounters in the commercial whaling era, and intense scientific interest since, we know surprisingly little about whales.
One notable area of ignorance is the northern Indian Ocean where blue whales were hunted by Soviet whalers in the 1960s.
Whalers killed more than 350,000 blue whales between 1920 and the 1960s when the International Whaling Commission finally banned hunting of the species. By then, it was thought to be near extinction. In the 1990s, sound surveillance systems helped the counting process and it now estimated about 15,000 blue whales exist. The future should not hold a return to commercial hunting.

Memories of the Gordale Scar rope trick
From: John Guest, Tun Lane, South Hiendley, Barnsley.
WHEN I looked at the wonderful photograph of Gordale Scar (Yorkshire Post, June 26) it reminded me of an event in the late 1970s.
A party of more than one hundred 12 to 13-year-olds had studied limestone scenery at Felkirk Middle School in Wakefield, and this visit was to be the cumulation of their efforts.
The forecast had not been good, so we took with us two long wagon ropes. As we entered the field, we saw the stream was in spate, and then noticed at the foot of the scar another party. We got there as they were about to leave – disappointed, as the water was rushing down the scar. However, Trevor, our undaunted outdoor-pursuits teacher, tied the two ropes together, scrambled up the scar and looped them over a large rock, while the next man secured them. An anchor-man then kept the ropes taut and other staff arranged themselves along the rope. One by one the children popped between the ropes, using them as handrails, and soon all were at the top.
We could sense the envy coming from the other party, and when a teacher approached us, soon they were all on their way to the top, but rather more elegantly than the younger children. It turned out they were from a Roman Catholic High School in Leeds, and our chivalry was rewarded when, a week or so later, a letter of thanks arrived from that school. I wonder if any of those children still remember.

Little impact on poverty
From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.
ONCE again someone's having a laugh regarding last year's Live 8 contributions to Africa. The questions being asked is "what difference has been made?" after all the pledges that were given.
It shouldn't need Tony Blair, Bob Geldof or Bill Gates to give the answer. The answer, as always, is that no progress at all has been made. Indeed, billions has been pumped into Africa during the last four to five decades, all from the West with little impact being made.
South Africa was one of the richest countries in the world prior to Nelson Mandela being put in charge. Since then, they, too, are now begging for aid. Why?

Whipping system is nothing but political thuggery
From: David T Craggs, Tunstall, Nr Withernsea.
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with all that H Laycock stated in "English votes for English laws' Bill likely to fail" (Yorkshire Post, June 19). It described a classic example of why so many people have lost all faith in politics.
Throughout my life, I have had it pointed out to me on countless occasions that this country is the best example of a democracy at work that the world has to offer. It is not. In fact, no form of "whipping system" can have a place in a true democracy.
In a truly democratic process, MPs would vote on issues in the House of Commons after consulting those constituents who put them into power. Obviously, this would be impractical on every single issue, but any MPs worth their salt would instinctively know how their constituents would want them to vote, and do so accordingly.
What is more undemocratic, and more ludicrous, than MPs voting for an issue that they, and the majority of their constituents, do not support, purely and simply because
"the party" insists that they
do so?
I am amazed that so many MPs do not have the guts to kick the whole whipping system into touch. I certainly would if I were in their position.
Rumour even has it that MPs have been ambushed in the House of Commons toilets and physically threatened by Whips trying to persuade them to support the party line – surely a classic case of constitutional thuggery.
Of course, the young, unlike the old, have twigged the stupidity of this and many other undemocratic procedures – the fact that a political party can gain power with a minority of the public's vote, springs to mind – and have voted with their feet, not to vote at all.
Some would say that the present system works. Maybe on uncontentious issues it does, but never describe it as democratic. It emphatically is not.
What is so amazing is the fact that so-called intelligent people of all political allegiances can see nothing wrong with the system.

Points

I know who I will vote for
From: Jack Kinsman, Stainton Drive,
Grimsby.
IF we get a chance to have another General Election, I shall vote for the candidate who wants to stop my country being used as an international haven for refugees.
France, Italy, and Spain do not have our overcrowding problem, but they take far, far fewer immigrants than this little overstretched island. Why? It has got to stop.
I will vote for anyone who will put a stop to my country being abused in this way. My children deserve better.

Think again
call to Brown
From: Tim Mickleburgh, Littlefield Lane, Grimsby.
GORDON Brown has said
that if he were Prime Minister, both a replacement for Trident and the building of new
nuclear power stations would proceed.
Should he not at least discuss things among his party colleagues, then debate the issues in the Commons?
For it isn't just Left-wingers
like myself who are against such developments, as recent writings make clear.
Those at the other end of the political spectrum are also questioning the cost of nuclear power and the need for weaponry which would never be used.
I hope the Chancellor thinks again.

Fines to stop soccer 'diving'
From: Simon Wood, Brockfield, near York.
MAY I suggest an idea to stop theatrical diving at football, which threatens to ruin the game?
After the game, an independent referee should examine the video evidence of suspected dives, and if appropriate, fine the guilty players £100,000.
The prospect of retrospective justice should concentrate the most acrobatic mind.

From: PV Hetherington, Monkhill Drive,
Pontefract.
JUST trying to help, but maybe the cure for the Swiss team's inability to score a goal
after two hours of footy and three penalty shots could be a large block of billiard chalk or rough sandpaper on the boot toe.
Seems to work at snooker.