Sponsored by
'National pride' is an inadequate excuse for aggression
From: Michael Meadowcroft, Waterloo Lane, Leeds. WHAT a vague and impractical article by Stephen Platten, the Bishop of Wakefield, (Yorkshire Post, August 14). Of course, the West, and anyone else should support the Georgian people, but how?
He fails to set out any practical steps. And does he really want us to support the Georgian government right or wrong? Again, he fails to make any comment on Georgian policy towards those communities which, like South Ossetia found themselves, by chance, within the Georgian state boundary on the break up of the Soviet Union.
I have been to Georgia on a number of occasions and would go again tomorrow. From my personal experience, the Georgian people show the most open-hearted hospitality imaginable to all their visitors, but they have been badly served by their governments. Georgia has a population equivalent to that of Yorkshire and it was crazy to take Russia on. The idea that Western governments would come to the military aid of Georgia against Russia in an invasion of South Ossetia was always fanciful. Was this the kind of support the Bishop wants?
The accident of border lines should not be exacerbated by leaders who prate about "sovereign territory". South Ossetia has a population less than a Leeds parliamentary constituency and is separated from North Ossetia by a line on a map that hardly mattered when they were both in the Soviet Union.
It has never co-operated with Georgia and has refused to participate in Georgian elections – in fact, I was asked to go there to try to persuade them to take part, but they refused to meet me.
The sooner we stop letting leaders get away with pleading "national pride" or even "patriotism" as an excuse to defend artificial and irrational borders, the better.
The obsession with sovereignty and the nation state is relatively recent in origin and needs to be replaced with international co-operation and transnational politics.
From: Ray Deans, Church Fields, Deighton, Huddersfield.
WHAT a sad, sad spectacle we have when our own Government is neutered by its own actions and support for violent intervention to the extent that Russia simply ignores them.
A week after fighting began between Russian and Georgian forces over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, we hear that George Bush thinks "bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century". We also have to
listen to our Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, stating the obvious, in that "force is not the basis for resolving difficult issues and is not the basis for international relations".
The problem with these words is that they are spoken by the representatives of two countries who have and continue to engage in bullying, intimidation and are not afraid to use force to resolve affairs in their perceived favour.
Russia will never listen to what they (and I'm afraid the rest of the world) see as hypocritical thugs denouncing others for something they do themselves.
If they had listened to the democratic voices of the millions who took to the streets in an attempt to make them see sense, they wouldn't be the waste of space they appear to be on the world stage and lives would be saved.
From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.
PRESIDENT George W Bush displays staggering hypocrisy exceptional even for politicians.
Leave aside the fact that Georgia committed the initial aggression, Mr Bush condemns Russia. This after the criminal tragedy of Iraq which was quite on a par with Radovan Karadzic's evil deeds.
Of course, no one holds a brief for the sinister Vladimir Putin, but isn't it about time that the world recognises that the pathetic Mr Bush and his administration have no moral authority left?
And that goes for his poodle Tony Blair, too.
From: RB Holroyd, Headlands, Liversedge, Batley.
THEY say a leopard never changes its spots. Nor does it seem the Russian bear changes its coat.
Time is right for another Norman conquest
From: Norman Armistead, Green Park Avenue, Cayton, Scarborough.
ADMITTEDLY, my name began life as a Germanic nickname (Yorkshire Post, August 12). Nor-man means northman, as Vikings were sometimes called. There's a bit of French in there, as well, as the Vikings settled in the region we know as Normandy, and conquered England in the 11th century.
Enough of the history.
As a man from the North, I am proud to bear the name Norman, one of the strong names that have stood the test of time.
The rumour that it is dying out cannot be allowed to gain ground.
Given that we Bradfordians are being urged to up sticks and emigrate south to Basingstoke – Basingstoke, where's that? – it seems to me that all Normans should stand together and do all we can to promote it as a name that marks a man out as a proud Yorkshireman and true northerner.
Maybe it would help if a campaign were launched to popularise the name. Norman Vincent Peale of The Power of Positive Thinking fame is no longer around to help. The Hull-born Fat Boy Slim, the world-renowned DJ, born Quentin Cook, later changed his name to Norman, so maybe he would pitch in. Then there is General Norman Schwarzkopf, of Operation Desert Storm, who declared: "True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing the job." That's the spirit, spoken like a true Norman. Stormin' Norman! And let's not forget Norman Tebbit.Authority holds police to account
From: Fraser Sampson, chief executive, West Yorkshire Police Authority.
HAVING read with interest your coverage of the matter of police bonuses and pay, I am pleased to be able to report good news.
Your editorial quite properly sought public accountability on these matters. It is, of course, of the first importance that those who pay for public services are not only clear on the way in which the money is used but also have a voice in the broader governance arrangements of the bodies involved.
The good news is that such accountability is in place: in the form of your police authority. Each of the police forces you mention has a police authority made up of local councillors and independent members who have a statutory duty to hold their Chief Constables to account and to provide good financial governance.
Providing the scrutiny you have identified is precisely the role of police authorities in the region.
Those same authorities are about to complete a round of further appointments from within the communities they serve and there are proposals to strengthen police authority arrangements further in the Government's Green Paper which is seeking the views of the electorate over the summer.
Negative view of NHS
From: David Wager, Delf Close, Shelf, Halifax.
SOME of your recent stories on the NHS, for example the article about hospital pest control (Yorkshire Post, August 6), read as a purely negative "spin" which you seem to think is more newsworthy than
taking the point of view that the trusts calling in pest control companies is a proactive step to contain and control the problem.
And again you miss the point in your story about funding for the latest treatment for cancer. Tragic as this situation is, the question of why the drug companies are charging in the region of 30,000 per year for it is completely ignored, as is the fact that the same 30,000 can buy a lot of other treatments for more people.
These decisions are traumatic enough without your simplistic ramblings and random finger pointing.
Yes, the NHS has problems, most of them complex, such as infection control, but these problems need simplification by informed analysis, not biased headlines which lower the morale of the staff within the organisation.
If the NHS can hold on to its staff, despite the vilification from such stories, then they will find the solution to these difficulties, as in the past.
If not, then we may find out the true cost of healthcare.
From: Roy Bedford,Manor Rise, Walton, Wakefield.
IT is scandalous that we allow people to die while others are allowed to milk the NHS system with impunity. I could cut the injustice – at a stroke.
The National Health Service was originally designed to look after the sick. Let's return to this ideal. If you're not sick, you should pay for treatment. This would include all cosmetic procedures, lifestyle choices and performance-enhancing drugs.
Additional funds could easily be found, if only the Government would stop throwing our money into the bottomless pit of state handouts and benefit dependency. But don't hold your breath.
Parties must share the blame for post office plight
From: Jonathan Arnott, Ravenscroft Close, Sheffield.
CONSERVATIVE MEP Timothy Kirkhope (Yorkshire Post, August 13) claims that European Directives give merely "general advice" such as telling the UK that we must ensure we have a competitive postal service.
It is true that the UK has some freedom concerning how an EU Directive is enforced, but if a Directive says we must open postal services to competition, then competition to our postal services must be opened.
This competition leads to an uneconomical postal service. Why? Because the Royal Mail has a statutory duty to deliver daily to every UK household; its competitors do not.
The Royal Mail used to subsidise the unprofitable business of delivering letters with its other profitable business. Since postal services have been opened to competition, companies have cherry-picked the easy profits, leaving the Royal Mail out of pocket. This was a foreseeable consequence and the reason UKIP opposed the relevant
EU Directives.
EU competition laws also prevent the Government from increasing subsidies to deal with the shortfall. If the postal service remains uneconomical, it must close branches. The EU may not have issued a Directive saying "close UK post offices" but EU legislation remains the
effective cause of the closures.
Timothy Kirkhope supported the legislation that precipitated our post office closures, yet now campaigns to keep them open. He blames the Labour Government when in reality the Conservatives and Lib Dems must share Labour's moral culpability for the demolition of our traditional post offices.
Fast route to accidents
From: Allan Davies, Heathfield Court, Grimsby.
ALAN Briglin (Yorkshire Post, August 11) is correct in asserting that speeding adds to road accidents.
At 20mph, a car requires a total stopping distance of 40 feet – 20 feet reaction distance, 20 feet braking distance. At 40mph, the corresponding distances are 40 and 80 feet respectively. Thus, the faster moving vehicle will still be travelling at 40mph at the point at which the slower-moving one has come to rest.
Golden duck
From: Russell Dawson, Eldwick, Bingley.
WE shouldn't be concerned about the myriad of medals that China is likely to win at the Olympics. I've heard they are rubbish at cricket. For now.
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
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
