Changing times are confusing

AS a fervently reactionary senior citizen, I am feeling confused.

I recently caught a Doncaster to Sheffield train comprising two carriages. I boarded the train at the first stop after Doncaster to find it packed out, one of the carriages mostly occupied by a group of schoolchildren. To acknowledge the positive aspect of this, the children were sitting three abreast in seats for two.

They were well-behaved and the accompanying teachers were standing. I grumbled to the ticket collector within earshot of one of the teachers that there was no seat available for me and that in my day a child would have given up his or her seat to allow me to sit down.

The ticket collector very kindly found the one remaining seat and went out of his way to point it out to me. Having had my grumble, I then pondered the issue – in my seat – of which particular child a teacher would approach to give up his or her seat to a senior citizen such as myself or someone with an obvious disability.

I must also point out that none of the men seated offered to relinquish his seat to me but I put that down to the price we women have to pay for equal opportunities.

It was only later that a friend who knows about such things informed me that, if a child is standing on a train (or bus) and is injured as a result, the teachers are responsible.

So now I am confused as to what is morally wrong and what right in this circumstance. At one time I’d have been quite clear. Is it only me who is finding that life is becoming increasingly complicated?

Costs needed for fiasco

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

the ratepayers of the East Riding deserve to be informed of the total cost in time and money which has resulted in the Tesco fiasco at the Bridlington coach park, now that the supermarket has withdrawn its new plan for the town.

Was any contract signed with Tesco? Will there be any compensation to the local authority?

Meanwhile, elected political heads should fall along with the highly-paid senior staff who engineered this deal, which must put back, for a considerable time, any chance of the first brick being set in cement for the rise of the promised new Bridlington Town Centre.

ERYC messed up the harbour issue and now its incompetency has mucked up any inland progress. So, when can Bridlington be brought in to the 21st century? That is after more than 10 years of the plan being on the drawing board. And what will the new cost be, taking into consideration the inflation over this past decade?

Answers, please... because this was dear ERYC’s baby, after all.

Why no day for Diana?

From: Nigel Boddy, Fife Road, Darlington, County Durham.

On July 1, 1961 Diana Princess of Wales was born at Sandringham. Whatever happened about having a Bank Holiday in England and Scotland to commemorate this?

Is there still time to get a Bill through Parliament before the Summer Recess?

Here we are, 16 years after her death and there is still no memorial statue to Diana. Diana is the mother of our future King and with good luck her descendants will be our royal family happily ever after.

In St Paul’s Cathedral isn’t 
there an entire memorial chapel by the entrance dedicated to a First World War field marshal?

The Dean and Chapter of Saint Paul’s could redesignate this space in memory of Diana.

Diana was married at St Paul’s. Am I right in thinking there is an empty plinth in Trafalgar Square which could be used for a statue? David Cameron now wants this for another Margaret Thatcher statue.

There is a statue to Thatcher already in the Palace of Westminster but Cameron doesn’t like it much as it shows her as an old lady.

Instead of David Cameron commissioning more Thatcher statues, why can’t the people have what they want, an accurate, flattering likeness of Diana?

Probation staff
deserve credit

From: Mark Siddall. Director of Operations, West Yorkshire Probation Trust.

I WAS very interested to see the latest statistics from the UK Peace Index, highlighting the fall in rates of violent crime and murder and listing Leeds as the fourth most peaceful urban area in the UK.

It is interesting that this report points out the significant difference between the fear of crime and the reality of crime (only four per cent will actually experience crime).

The work of West Yorkshire Probation Trust in reducing reoffending and rehabilitating offenders plays a crucial part in ensuring fewer victims of crime and creating a more peaceful community for us all.

Locally, West Yorkshire Probation has reduced reoffending by 14 per cent 
since 2005. We are continually 
in the top six trusts in England and Wales. We have achieved this through very effective partnership working with the police, prisons and other local organisations.