Sponsored by
Friday's Letters: Cut MPs' pay in half to encourage those who want to serve
From: D Wood, Thorntree Lane, Goole. HAVING read so much about our MPs' indefensible expense claims I would just like to make the following comments.
The contempt which most of the population now feel for these parasites is beyond words. There have been some useful suggestions, "hang the lot of them" being one of my favourites. These people claim to have broken no rules or laws, but this is only because the only rules appear to be
"fill your boots" or rather your bank account.
Quite a number of people have suggested buying a block of flats and assigning one to each constituency with all the basic requirements provided, then if they want TVs, music centres, or food they buy it themselves. This is obviously the way to go and then scrap all other expenses except carefully controlled second-class rail travel. Some people have even suggested giving them a large pay rise and no expenses. This will only encourage more greedy grabbing wasters and scoundrels to become MPs.
The best way is to halve their pay to, say, 35,000, still well above the national average, and way above any other non-skilled job. An MP is about the only job in the country where no qualifications whatsoever are required, and in a lot of cases it shows, too. If this was implemented, then we just might get some people putting up for MP who are actually interested in serving our country and its people, but don't hold your breath.
From: John Francis Bird, Castlestead Gardens, Bewerley, Pateley Bridge.
THE MPs' expenses scandal has revealed once again how those who are in positions of power and privilege will go to extreme lengths to conceal their financial wrongdoings.
Thanks to the courage of a whistleblower and the free Press we still enjoy in this country, they have not succeeded.
In attempting to defend the indefensible and continuing to assert that they have done nothing wrong, those MPs who have acted so disgracefully have shown themselves to be without honour, integrity or conscience. However, they have now learned that the truth has a way of coming out in the end and they must now face the consequences.
From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.
THE latest craze to "reform" Parliament is to ban second jobs. This is no doubt to embarrass and hamper the Tories, though Labour doesn't seem to be behind the door in getting these lucrative jobs. One wonders how successful these people would be without their inside knowledge and contacts at a high level.
However, I would not favour stopping all MPs from earning outside Parliament. The best way of tackling this is by action within the parties.
For example, David Cameron advised his deputy William Hague to cut back on his outside interests which he is reported to have done.
I would not welcome a House full of busybody social workers living, eating and breathing politics. I would far rather have a member who has succeeded in his first career who is able to bring that expertise with him into Parliament.
Much better, I would have thought, than the party apparatchik who has never had a proper job outside the Westminster village. The former has far more opportunity to keep his finger on the public pulse.
Vital task of preserving freedom
From: Farooq Aftab, Upper Mount Street, Lockwood, Huddersfield.
I WRITE further to recent comments made by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, regarding the wearing of a veil and burka by Muslim women.
It is ironic that, on the one hand, the West raises allegations against Islam that it compels and is harsh, whereas, on the other hand, we have here a so-called democratic state meddling and interfering in personal matters of others.
Rather than promoting unity and understanding, Mr Sarkozy used his address to perpetuate pre-existing false stereotypes. His comments are extremely unhelpful and indeed regrettable, particularly coming from the head of state of a country in which there are about five million Muslims.
His comments also directly contradict comments made by President Barack Obama recently who said: "It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practising religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We can't disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism."
It appears that this is exactly what President Sarkozy is doing – he is hiding behind the veil of liberalism to disguise the hostility towards Islam. Moreover, his views on the burka are both factually wrong and ill-informed. The burka is an item of religious dress which many Muslim women choose to wear. However, no Muslim woman should be forced to wear it because a fundamental teaching of Islam is that "there shall be no compulsion in religion".
France should adopt the policy of Britain which is not to interfere in an individual's personal matters. Muslims in Britain are extremely fortunate that they can practise their religion freely – a right which is not even enjoyed in some so-called Muslim states.
What a tragedy. Is the French government now going to show Taliban-like tendencies by dictating what people can and can't do?
For freedom to reign, freedom must be preserved.
Costly fares to blame
From: Dan Aitkenhead, Fulham Road, London.
NATIONAL Express East Coast line is now pleading poverty due to passenger numbers being down. The firm seems to have forgotten one of
the tenets of capitalism is to provide a competitive service.
It is not the recession that has put many commuters like myself off travelling on the East Coast line, rather the extortionate fares that makes flying invariably cheaper – so much so, searching for train fares is my last, rather than first, choice for my regular London-Edinburgh commute.
National Express chief executive Richard Bowker commented when it took
over the East Coast line that he had won a bid "which is ambitious, deliverable and structured to generate shareholder value".
He didn't mention that it would be at the expense of passengers and to add insult to injury, taxpayers may have to pick up the tab for being priced off our railways – something which Rail Minister Tom Harris promised at the time wouldn't happen.
Star's death over hyped
From: David W Wright, Little Lane, Easingwold, North Yorkshire.
THE death of Michael Jackson was sad, having witnessed his decline, but the media hype since the announcement must surely be questioned.
Everyone, including our own Prime Minister, has been getting on the sackcloth-and-ashes act and coupled with the coverage on news, TV and even in the Yorkshire Post (two full pages, June 27) it is surely over the top and unwarranted.
This death, and the resultant media circus, must show how we have lost our sense of proportion and our dependence on publicity and exploitation
by the media instead of spending more time and effort on highlighting, for example, the loss of young lives of our Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and the futility of this conflict and our continued involvement.
Brave effort by runners
From: Janet Berry, Hambleton, North Yorkshire.
I SHOULD like to thank all who arranged and took part in the fabulous race for life at York Racecourse on Sunday. Some 3,000 people ran the five-kilometre race in the oppressive heat to raise money for cancer.
I contracted breast cancer four years ago. Thanks to the quick diagnosis by my doctor, Dr Scott in Selby, the wonderful
Mr Nicholson from York hospital and the very caring Jackie Frazier, the Macmillan nurse, I survived.
We went to watch my dear daughter complete the run, very red-faced, and she raised more than 600. We felt very proud of her but also so proud of all the brave people running with very sad messages written on their numbers in memory of their dad, or mum or someone in their family.
It was absolutely heart-warming and very emotional. A big thank you to all. What a wonderful day!
Pitfalls of seeking perfection in English grammar
From: Dominic Rayner, Gledhow Avenue, Roundhay, Leeds.
SUSAN Towle of York is your latest correspondent (Yorkshire Post, June 30) to rail against falling standards in grammar, though her main bugbear is people who pronounce "with" as "wiv".
She then refers to "Emperor's New Clothes' syndrome". The second apostrophe suggests that the syndrome is somehow owned by the clothes, affects the clothes (as in "the twins' syndrome was not a serious case") or was discovered or described by the clothes (as in Down's syndrome). This is clearly not the case; "emperor's new clothes syndrome" is correct, though the stylistic capitals could be used.
Prior to that, Bob Swallow (Yorkshire Post, June 29) describes his grammatical pet hate – the use of the word "alternatives" to describe multiple alternative possibilities.
More scholarly people than me must arbitrate on that, but he then says, "I suspect their use… is doubtless deliberate". This can't be right: if you suspect it is deliberate, it isn't free from doubt; if it is doubtless deliberate, then the suspicion
is superfluous.
Betty Marsden (Yorkshire Post, June 24) writes: "to hear and read (poor grammar and pronunciation] on the BBC TV and radio is inexcusable". Whether or not she means "read", it can't be inexcusable to hear poor grammar on the radio.
I hear incorrect pronunciation of foreign names on the radio every day, but excuse myself with ease. It might be inexcusable for the BBC to broadcast this material, though I think the increasing use of regional accents is a good thing.
The problem for people writing letters in pedantic vein is that they might easily make inadvertent grammatical errors of their own.
I make no claim to perfect grammar, and expect that there are half a dozen errors in these few sentences. (If there are, I would blame the Yorkshire Post's typesetters, or their modern equivalent.)
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Libraries aren’t like supermarkets, they are magical places where dreams begin
- Strategic review will lead to job losses at Yorkshire Bank
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
