YP Letters: Bus users will pay up to keep them on road

From: Kate Empsall, Moor Road, Askrigg, Leyburn.
Can the country still afford concessionary bus fares?Can the country still afford concessionary bus fares?
Can the country still afford concessionary bus fares?

I HAVE a concessionary bus pass, but don’t often use it except when we go away as I am able to drive (The Yorkshire Post, November 26).

We then get the park and ride into York and Scarborough and I can use the pass, but have to pay £1.

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I think that is a fair charge and it also keeps our motorhome out of the town, not using a parking space in a car park, or on the road. This encourages people to use public transport. Many people would be happy to pay £1, if it’s going to save the precious rural bus services.

We have the Little White Buses in Wensleydale, and up to Garsdale Station, on the Settle Carlisle Line operated by more than 35 volunteers, and some paid drivers.

Keep up the good work.

From: B Murray, Halifax Road, Sheffield.

CONCERNING your request (The Yorkshire Post, November 26), I think that pensioners should pay towards their bus fares (and also prescriptions) – perhaps a money box could be placed in the bus for extra contributions. It is ridiculous that pensioners in rural Yorkshire have a free bus pass and no buses!

HS2 cannot
be justified

From: JM Lowson, Hull.

HIGH speed rail would adversely affect established residential areas and our landscape. Economists fail to see how the enormous costs could be justified, in order to save minutes on journey times and experts have warned about the costs of reinforced rail tracks.

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High fare prices will exclude most commuters, except the wealthy and those travelling at public expense. In fact many would have retired before it became operational.

Spending a fraction of these billions of pounds now to improve and re-instate existing railways, including safety, is more rational. Events abroad remind us that high speed trains can never be free from the risk of accidents and vandalism.

High speed rail and wind dependent energy farms have so many snags in common, including economic justification, that it brings into question the motivation of their primary backers.

MP’s criticism not justified

From: Howard Ray, Bramley, Leeds.

RECENT criticisms of Rachel Reeves MP for writing a biography of Alice Bacon (The Yorkshire Post, November 29) would have had more credibility had they contained any semblance of factual content.

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What is a fact is that Rachel Reeves is a highly regarded hard working Member of Parliament for Leeds West – she does all in her power to help and improve the lives of her constituents.

Has she written a biography on Alice Bacon? Yes. Is she Jeremy Corbyn’s number one fan? No. There is lots of talk of spin and feathering of nests in all parties in politics, Rachel would be very low down in the pecking order in my opinion.

A starting point of bias and bigotry does not make wholesome reading.

How can we trust council?

From: Phil Harrison, Royal Crescent Court, The Crescent, Filey.

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YESTERDAY I applied to North Yorkshire County Council for a DBS safeguarding certificate. I received an acknowledgement that included the following:“If you provided ID to the recruiting manger (sic) there is no need to respond...”

As the authority clearly does not check what it sends out, what reliance can be placed on its ability to correctly vet applicants?

Back like a bad penny

From: Muriel Heaton, King Lane, Leeds.

WHEN Sir Keith Joseph retired, Timothy Kirkhope was selected to contest the Leeds North East seat. It was a very Eurosceptic area and still is. Kirkhope was repeatedly told to stop blathering on about the EU, both publicly and privately.

He would not listen and lost the seat by a wide margin.

Like the proverbial bad penny, he turned up in Brussels as MEP and now sits in the House of Lords.

TV’s Strictly a waste of time

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

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I’VE never watched an episode of Strictly Come Dancing – I believe dancing is an activity to participate in, not to watch on television.

Nevertheless I read the letter from Sarah Atkin with interest (The Yorkshire Post, November 30) and found myself agreeing with its contents.

For Strictly isn’t a serious dance competition, but light entertainment for viewers. That’s why they are allowed to vote for who they want. And if Ed Balls is their favourite, then so be it.

I do feel people get too uptight about TV programmes, as witness the earlier furore about the antics of Jeremy Clarkson or The Great British Bake Off. They’re meant to be harmless fun after all.

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

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SARAH Atkin rightly puts the nonsense of Strictly Come Dancing into perspective. However, it is not surprising that people take it seriously when, like reports 
of other banalities such as Bake-Off and The X Factor, it is all over the newspapers. Just another 
example of media dumbing 
down. I remember when the newspapers didn’t patronise their readership.