Archbishop entertains the wealthy

From: Philip Booth, Hardwick Road, Pontefract.

FIVE weeks ago, Dr John Sentamu had a go at bankers. This week, it’s millionaires and awards by the Queen to self-made men and women for services and contribution to this country, both by producing and employing (Yorkshire Post, November 5).

Why doesn’t he come clean and tell his people that he entertains the millionaires of Yorkshire, some of whom have been given honours by the Queen, at both his home at Bishopthorpe Palace and at the Minster?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Also, that HRH the Duke of York has on his behalf entertained at Buckingham Palace the millionaires of our county. Come on Dr Sentamu, give it a rest. I wonder what the educated drop-outs outside St Paul’s would make of him?

As for myself, I wish I had both £1m and a gong.

From: Bob Swallow, Townhead Avenue Settle.

THERE were contrasting items on pages 15 and 16 (Yorkshire Post, November 5).

On the former, Archbishop John Sentamu writes at length on the public outrage at the excesses of the financial sector.

On the latter, the business page, there is a report on RBS making a measly £2bn profit. Stephen Hester the chief executive writes of pursuing additional cost cutting including shedding more jobs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I do wonder whether the cost cutting includes a part being played in this by the chief executive cutting his pay and bonuses.

The one bright light is that this bank has included no accrual of bonuses for staff in its global banking division in its third quarter results. Presumably provision was made in the previous quarters.

Two men with such differing views on life. Which one would get your vote?

Capitalism good for all

From: Peter Wood, Scaftworth Close, Doncaster.

FOR two centuries capitalism has driven huge advances in science, technology, engineering and medicine.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Living standards for millions have improved dramatically and life expectancy continues to soar. Prosperity and “the good life”, once confined to a fortunate small elite, seem to be within the grasp of the majority.

At last China and India have joined their smaller Asian neighbours by jumping onto the bandwagon as capitalism becomes a global phenomenon.

Francis Fukuyama described the collapse of communism as the “End of History”, meaning that the ideological argument was over, capitalism and liberal democracy had triumphed.

Even before the recent banking and financial crisis I question whether rampant consumerism and unfettered markets actually resulted in greater happiness for the majority? G20 nations must wake up to the fact that capitalism and free markets will only survive if the majority of ordinary people perceive they are being treated fairly.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Most of us are not greedy, unlike the parasites who receive obscene remuneration, by financial institutions, for dealing in derivatives, credit default swaps and all the other unnecessary financial instruments they have created.

We need the top independent academic and economic brains from all nations, together with finance ministers and heads of financial institutions, to have a crisis meeting to decide the way forward.

They need to design a set of rules, enforced by tough regulatory bodies with a global reach, which will harness the acceptable face of capitalism while curbing its excesses.

Not an easy task but one which must be done otherwise I fear that the capitalist bandwagon may turn out to be a handcart on the road to hell!

Metal theft nothing new

From: Clive Kenyon, Shafton, Barnsley.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

SO Yvette Cooper claims that the Government are out of touch with metal thefts. How does she explain her own Government’s actions (Yorkshire Post, November 5)?

Metal theft is not new. It has been going on for some years and I was part of a South Yorkshire Police initiative to deal with this crime back in the days of the previous Labour Government.

When I say “initiative”, what I meant was a smoke and mirrors operation whereby a token gesture was made in gathering the scrap metal merchants together and giving them a stiff talking to then briefing press officers that the force was taking strong action against metal thieves.

The sort of tactics that became common place in the time of the previous establishment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The simple fact is that scrap metal theft can be significantly reduced simply by effective policing of the dealers.

This, however, costs the police money that they would rather spend on community projects and reassurance, whatever that actually is. The legislation is in place. The method of investigation is simple. The crimes show no sign of abating. The fact that police forces are not doing more to stop this is a crime in itself, but Ms Cooper’s colleagues did not manage to do it, so I don’t see how she is placed to criticise the current establishment.

From: Diana Priestley, Fixby Road, Huddersfield.

LUCKY Jayne Dowle! Able to send her late August boy to school when he was just five (Yorkshire Post, November 3). My son, born on September 4, and not admitted to school for another year, spent that time, too old for “silly baby playgroup,” grumbling every time we dropped off his sister at “proper school.”

Nearly 12 at the 11+, nearly 17 at GCSE, nearly 19 at university, he was constantly held back by his date of birth.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Long ago, my October birthday didn’t stop me from going to grammar school at 10, doing O-Level at 15, A-Level at 17 and graduating at 20. Why wait? It only teaches kids to waste their time with no goal to aim for. Indeed, my cousin, with a March birthday, entered grammar school at ten-and-a-half and it never stood in her way, the youngest child in the school.

No wonder, when a friend was offered a Caesarean section in late August or early September and the surgeon asked: “Do you prefer this week or next?” She emphatically declared “this week please” and had an August baby.