Cheaper rail key to ending resort misery

I AGREE with Tom Richmond (Yorkshire Post, January 26) that the A64 is a severe constraint on Scarborough’s tourism potential.

I feel I know every inch of that road, having often crawled along it inch by inch. I much prefer to travel by train, but even looking at the prices on the internet available today for advanced purchase a family of four would have to fork out £48 – and that includes a 25 per cent discount which ends at the end of January.

I would support some improvements to the road, and passing lanes are one answer. But I personally believe that past proposals for a motorway are simply not worth resurrecting.

Apart from the cost and the environmental destruction and so on, a motorway would help destroy the very character of the place. Anyone who has had the misfortune of going to Blackpool might recognise what I say.

What Scarborough needs is a more frequent and cheaper rail service – which so far as the borough is concerned, including Whitby, would mean at a relatively small cost rebuilding the rail link between Malton and Pickering – and a quality “offer” for all year round visitors, thus reducing dependency on a narrow seasonal peak.

Frank talk on franking

From: Michael Green, Baghill Green, Tingley, Wakefield.

PHIL Orford, of the Forum of Private Business, says that it will be small firms who will feel most sharply any increases in the cost of sending letters (Yorkshire Post, January 25).

Many people may not realise that for some years now, businesses who have franking machines (which is most of them) have enjoyed a nice discount compared with the rest of us.

At the moment they pay 39p instead of 46p for a first class letter, and 28p instead of 36p for second. This means that we private letter writers are actually subsidising them.

Like Mr Orford, I would prefer not to see prices go out of control. But at least let the rules be the same for all of us.

From: Ruth Furniss, Tetley Place, Bolton Lane, Bradford.

FURTHER to Phil Orford’s article on the “snail mail”’ Royal Mail in this email-dominated society, here is a word of praise for Royal Mail.

I posted a small parcel in Ilkley Post Office at 5.15 pm on Friday, January 6, to my son in the Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides. He received it at noon on Saturday, January 7.

Beat that, email!

Success must bring reward

From: Dave Way, Marks Sattin Recruitment, High Holborn, London.

The current wave of hostility toward the payment of bonuses – most recently expressed in Ed Milliband’s call for RBS chief Stephen Hester to be denied his bonus – is a worrying sign for the UK economy.

Our latest research into accountancy and finance professionals’ expectations for the economy shows 53 per cent believe 2012 will see no deterioration in the UK’s economic position. This remarkably positive collective view is a direct result of a strong performance across the industry in 2011. Unless we get more of the same in 2012, we can forget any prospect of a sustained recovery in the UK.

Seeking to deny people doing a good and important job the rewards for their accomplishments, whether they work for a public-owned company or not, is the most efficient way to drive talent to markets where enjoying the rewards of success is not considered taboo.

Slap tax on bad foods

From: Charlie Mann, Church Street, Oughtibridge, Sheffield.

A RECENT report has uncovered that 24 per cent of adults are obese in England, and this is rising, rapidly. This has to be tackled, or the bill to the NHS could be astronomical.

The Government has considered funding anti-obesity campaigns, and has already backed healthy cookery books. These will do absolutely nothing. What will really change diets, which is a central problem in the obesity epidemic, is money.

Go into a supermarket in January, and yes, most fruit is out of season, but still it will set you back around 25-30p for an individual apple and around 30p for an individual orange. I could go on. On the other hand, much more convenient foods, that are very unhealthy, are priced at next to nothing. A 100g chocolate bar will cost you approximately 30p and a four-pack of large doughnuts around £1-1.10.

We are encouraged to have our “five a day”, but just consider the cost of this for a family, and how impossible this would be for a hard-pressed family. Healthy food is priced extortionately, so financially (which is often the most important factor in a recession) why would you choose to eat healthily? Tax unhealthy, “easy” foods, and use the revenue to subsidise fruit and vegetables. Make it financial advantageous to eat healthily. Simple.