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Blame Brussels for post office closures
From: Douglas Hartley, Irving Terrace, Clayton, Bradford.
THE closure of post offices is a game, the ball being tossed among Post Offices Ltd, the Government, politicians of various parties, even Royal Mail Group; with the bewildered, kept-in-the-dark public as spectators.
No-one is ready to slog the ball across the Channel to land in Brussels, where the damage originated. EU Postal Services Directives, 97/67/EC and 2002/39/EC, allowed Dutch (TNT) and German (DHL) postal agencies to invade and poach profitable business from our centuries-old national institution. Royal Mail is left, obliged to deliver letters and packets throughout the country at uniform prices.
The Government, ever over-obedient to EU rule, has withdrawn services that the Post Office traditionally supplied, adding to its difficulties.
Now the Post Office Card account is threatened. Thousands of pensioners using the account will be forced to turn to banks, many having to travel much further than to their local post office in order to collect their dues.
The National Federation of Sub-Postmasters has had printed a warning card to be available at all branches – "The Post Office Card Account is under threat. I want to save it!" On the back is a space for the name and address of any person in agreement. Sub- postmasters hope that more than four million of these cards will be sent by pensioners and drawers of benefit to their MPs.
An Early Day Motion (1506) has been laid before Parliament, attempting to preserve the Card Account. I urge all concerned to take a "Save It!" card and send it to their MP, asking him or her to sign the motion.
From: Mrs Barbara Stark, Ridgestone Avenue, Bilton.
WHY is it that in all the thousands of words which have been printed regarding the closure of the post offices, the real culprit, the European Union, is never mentioned?
From 2009, the Royal Mail monopoly will be phased out completely.
Some duplicitous politicians have been campaigning to keep post offices open in their constituencies. Yet in a Commons motion on March 19 this year, some of those same politicians voted for the closure programme to continue. The motion was carried.
From: Malcolm Naylor, Grange View, Otley.
THE closure of the post offices epitomises everything Labour stands for – capitalism and privatisation.
It also shows that this country is not a democracy when the voice of the people is ignored and essential services are run for profit by capitalists.
Elected MPs and councillors are powerless as big business takes over. Consultations are a sham. People have lost control to capitalists, and social inequality and environmental damage will result.
Post office closures will rip the heart out of communities. Around the country, 2,500 post offices have closed, many more will follow and it will be the elderly, disabled and pensioners who suffer the most.
Once lost, like the railway lines to rural communities, they will be gone forever.
Compare this with America, the home of capitalism, where all its post offices are government-run and controlled.
But when capitalists get in trouble, they come to the taxpayer to bale them our, like the Northern Rock fiasco, costing 3bn, and decommissioning of nuclear power stations, costing 73.6bn. And yet we have no say in any of these.
Taxpayers are paying 79bn for Trident missiles, 4bn on aircraft carriers, 500m on helicopters that can't fly, and who knows how much for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But post offices, drugs for cancer, care of the elderly and decent pensions are "unaffordable".
Labour started its attack on vulnerable groups in 1997 when Tony Blair cut benefits for disabled people.
Labour Party members and supporters should not feel disloyal at abandoning Labour. It died in 1997 and Blair was the undertaker who buried it. Take heed and act now to protect your democracy.
From: S Franks, Chapel Allerton, Leeds.
NAIVELY, as it turns out, we thought that sending items by first-class mail ensured their next-day delivery.
Rather late in the day, we've learned otherwise – our lesson courtesy of the Royal Mail.
Our daughter and her family had come for a visit, and after they'd driven off back to their home, near Portsmouth, we discovered our grandson's much-adored teddy bear with which he always goes to sleep.
Recognising a crisis, we rushed to our nearest Post Office to catch that Monday morning's first post and
sent it off first-class, rather expecting it to be delivered
the next day.
This was not to be; it didn't arrive until the day after, and so I wrote to the Royal Mail asking what was the point of forking out the extra for first-class when it's apparently no faster than second?
To which question we have now received this interesting reply: "We aim to deliver first-class mail on the working day after we collect it. These are known as the 'due dates'. I must stress these are the dates we aim for and are not guaranteed. Although we did not deliver your items by the due date, we do not class an item as being delayed if it is delivered within four working days of the due date."
So there you have it: first-class mail can be delivered four days after you put it in the post, and the Royal Mail doesn't consider it's been delayed.
The facts behind parking-ticket complaint
From: Don Mackenzie, Cabinet Member, Planning and Transport, Harrogate Borough Council.
I WRITE in reply to the letter from GB Greenwood, who received a ticket for parking
in a "permit holders only"
bay in Crescent Gardens, Harrogate (Yorkshire Post, August 12) .
In view of the comments made, I believe that your readers are entitled to receive the facts of the case.
Mr Greenwood parked in front of the council offices at 7.30pm on July 29, and placed his passenger's disabled parking permit (blue badge) on his dashboard. This permit allows the vehicle to park anywhere on the roadside, including on double-yellow lines for up to three hours free of charge, and for an unlimited time in pay-and-display spaces, and in designated disabled bays.
The permit does not allow parking in bays marked out for doctors, taxis, cyclists or permit holders. This exception protects rights of access for permit holders, who may have paid for the permit or, in the case of this public building, allows essential staff to be able to park when council meetings are taking place or in emergency situations.
I would like to assure Mr Greenwood that, apart from the Mayor of the Borough, neither members – nor officers – enjoy privileged parking on our roads. We do have parking discs, which allow us to park in bays next to the grassy area of Crescent Gardens, only when we are attending council or committee meetings. His concerns that we should be taxed on a benefit in kind can be allayed.
I have spoken by telephone to Mr Greenwood since reading his letter. I have assured him that this council is always eager to balance effective parking enforcement with empathy for drivers, who have particular difficulties, such as those displaying disabled permits. We co-operate closely with the local Access Group, and provide a large number of special parking bays.
The ticket was correctly issued in this instance. The warden was not to know that a passenger in the vehicle was a 92-year-old lady enjoying a visit to a concert at the Royal Hall. In view of this, the council will reconsider the parking fine.Shakespeare festival hope for 2009
From: Joan Redman, Thebigword (translation services company), Wood Lane, Leeds.
WHAT a shame that the Shakespeare festival will not be hosted by Leeds. Being a company with global offices, we used to make sure that the Leeds Shakespeare Festival was on the entertainment itinerary for any of our visiting colleagues and clients.
It was always a great favourite and appreciated a great deal by our Japanese and Chinese guests who loved the idea of it being staged in the Kirkstall Abbey grounds.
From: Anthony and Marie Dowson, Manor Farm Court, Guiseley, Leeds.
IT'S a great pity that there is no Shakespeare festival in Leeds in 2008. My wife and I have gone to both plays for many years and they are a highlight of the summer.
Please lend your support to a festival for 2009.
From: Matthew Caygill, Potternewton Lane, Leeds.
I WAS very disappointed that there was no Shakespeare Festival at Kirkstall Abbey this year.
These productions have been a marvellous part of the cultural life of Leeds in recent years, as well as being tremendously enjoyable.
I do hope there will be a Shakespeare Festival in 2009.
From: Jeanne Bendle, Meadow Close, Harden, Bingley.
I AM very unhappy that Leeds has not felt able to support this festival this year.
I have attended the festival for the last five seasons and it has been a highlight of the late summer.
Leeds is a forward-looking city with a good record of cultural events, but to miss this off the calendar is a retrograde step and smacks of "penny pinching" on the part of the council.
Plaudits for Britain's 'people's champions'
From: Alan Carcas, Cornmill Lane, Liversedge, West Yorkshire.
THE Team GB Olympic medal winners are not Gordon Brown's champions as much as he might like to cloak himself in their success.
Neither are they John Major's champions because he created the Lottery funding for sport.
Our medal winners in Beijing are the people's champions! After all, we provided the money, whether it be through our taxes, or by buying lottery tickets.
So let's hear the congratulations for the people's champions. They, and we, deserve nothing less.
From: WJ Winterbottom, Pledwick Lane, Wakefield.
OUR nation owes a great debt of gratitude to our many athletes who have shown utter dedication to their chosen sport, with their rewards of gold, silver and bronze medals.
Let us remember the Labour politicians, civil servants and other hangers-on who have failed the country so miserably. They must surely deserve their putty medals.
From: Michael Stephen Mycroft, Wilton, Pickering, North Yorkshire.
I AM so pleased that the Government is ecstatic over the wonderful achievement, regarding our excellent Olympian athletes, but aren't they being just a little hypocritical?
I thought competition in sports, particularly at school, was not encouraged, unacceptable and totally politically incorrect.
I think they should make their policies clear; they just can't have it both ways.
From: Brian Jordan, Moorlands Crescent, Huddersfield.
I WONDERED why there was such a plethora of Olympic medals, coinciding with the Government's darkest days.
The revelation that millions of pounds of our taxes have been poured into pumping up the participants explains all. No doubt they would have preferred that there was cheaper bread as well, but dealing with the economy seems to be beyond them.
From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.
IT is, indeed, heartening to see the shower
of medals in Beijing after the showers of the other variety. To my mind, it shows that the younger generation have the right stuff.
This is very reassuring after all the adverse publicity over hoodies, violent crime and falling school standards.
Yet again, the tabloids will have to go into reverse after their relentless criticisms.
MPs' 'obscene' expenses
From: Colin Cawthray, Elmete Drive, Roundhay, Leeds.
FABIAN Hamilton, the Leeds North-East MP, is calling for a windfall tax on energy companies (Yorkshire Post, August 19).
He says that profits made by energy companies are "obscene".
If the Chancellor were to introduce a windfall tax, most of it would go into the Treasury, leaving very little of it to hand out to the needy families.
What I find obscene are the excessive expenses of MPs, what with charging the public for the food they consume and for John Lewis furniture.
Great Scot for the Tories
From: JC Penn, Birch Tree Drive, Drapers Lane,
Hedon, Hull.
WHEN I was about 11, back in the 1950s, I desperately wanted a bike for Christmas.
Unfortunately, when an attractive saleswoman knocked on our door, my father forgot the cycle and got me Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopaedia.
Reference tables in volume 10 told me that we English had the third heaviest brains in the world. The German brain was the second largest and the biggest brain, at 50 ounces, belonged to the Scottish.
Bearing this in mind, surely the Tory Party should choose a Scot to lead them into the next election.
Child's play in the library
From: Tim Mickleburgh, Littlefield Lane, Grimsby.
I'M writing this at Cleethorpes Library, trying hard to concentrate amid the noise of young children taking part in an organised holiday activity, including much in the way
of singing.
Now, it is good that children have things to keep them out of mischief in the summer.
But does anyone seriously think a library is an appropriate place for such noise and mayhem?
An election nearer home
From: Ken Holmes, Cliffe Common, Selby.
I NOTE that Foreign Secretary David Miliband is shouting for a general election in Pakistan. What a pity that he couldn't scream and shout for one
here.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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