YP Letters: Fairer deal for rural residents

From: Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness.
Will the Government's new funding formula bridge the divide between urban and rural funding in East Yorkshire?Will the Government's new funding formula bridge the divide between urban and rural funding in East Yorkshire?
Will the Government's new funding formula bridge the divide between urban and rural funding in East Yorkshire?

THE increase in the Rural Services Delivery Grant is good news (The Yorkshire Post, December 18). It’s the most significant increase we’ve seen yet, and I’m grateful to the Secretary of State, Greg Clark, for listening to the concerns of rural MPs from all sides of the House of Commons. I am pleased that he recognises the unfairness of the current system, which sees poorer, older, and more heavily taxed rural residents receive fewer local government services.

It’s disappointing that the Government hasn’t committed to the full £130m which our Rural Fair Share Campaign has asked for, and that next year’s increase will only see the grant increased to £20m. There’s a long way to go yet, and we will be campaigning to improve the deal further before the vote in the House of Commons in February.

Questions on fuel quality

From: Chris Giddings, Halifax.

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RICHARD Godfrey raises an interesting point regarding the quality of diesel (The Yorkshire Post, December 17).

I wonder if the fuel companies would be prepared to confirm or admit that they are omitting additives from fuel and at what point during production are those additives placed in the production process?

What, in fact, is the truth about the difference in quality of fuel between supermarkets and other filling stations if any? Regarding fuel consumption, I must admit I have not found any difference between the supermarket and premium suppliers, except price, and my car provides around the figures the manufacturer states.

Perhaps those with knowledge of the subject would like to enlighten us.

Booze ban for airports

From: Colin Cawthray, Stowe Garth, Bridlington.

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RE your report on budget airline Jet2 banning hundreds of badly behaved passengers at Leeds Bradford Airport (The Yorkshire Post, December 16).

A number of these cases are due to drunken behaviour. Here is a solution to stop most of the bad behaviour – do not serve alcohol on the planes.

A few years ago in Leeds Bradford Airport, I was surprised to see many people holding pints of beer. Nothing unusual about that you may say, but this was 7.30am.

Part of the problem starts in the airport. However it will not stop anybody selling the booze because profits come first.

City’s wartime bomb ordeal

From: Iain Morris, Caroline Street, Saltaire, Bradford.

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WITH its heavy industry, no doubt Sheffield was a natural enough target for bombing during the Second World War (Jayne Dowle, The Yorkshire Post, December 14) but it was another Yorkshire city – Hull – that suffered more bombing than any other city outside London.

What irked the people of Hull so much was the fact that their city was never mentioned by name on the radio but was repeatedly referred to yet again as “a town in the north-east of England”.

Fuming over roundabouts

From: JH Madden, Guiseley.

NO mention in your “Pollution poser” editorial (The Yorkshire Post, December 18) of the increase in the pollution for Rawdon, Horsforth, Rodley and Calverley due to Leeds City Council’s idiotic roundabouts which stop traffic flow.

Price of inflation

From: Keith Jowett, Barnsley.

NEWS that the Royal Mint will introduce a new twelve-sided £1 coin in 2017 prompted me to think back to our last twelve sided coin, the pre-decimal three penny bit. The colour and shape of the two coins are very similar, but sadly their purchasing power is also similar.

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The three penny bit would just have bought a first class stamp before decimalisation. The new pound coin will still buy only one first class stamp. Such is the effect of inflation!

Radical surgery

From: Ian Tomlinson, Garforth.

IF the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is unable to diagnose the malady of the National Health Service, then, there is no chance, whatsoever, of the NHS making a recovery (Jayne Dowle, The Yorkshire Post, December 21).

All he seems capable of is to rely on his incompetent regional lieutenants, when, in reality, it needs an incisive surgeon to cut out the cause of the problem.

Hero’s honour

From: Mr F Snowdon, York.

I NOTICED with interest your front page photo of war hero Joseph Murphy wearing his Legion d’Honneur medal.

What a pity that either the Queen or David Cameron cannot follow the example of President Francois Hollande and award a similar medal to the real heroes who saved us from German occupation.