Do all over-75s need a free TV licence? - Yorkshire Post letters

WITH regard to recent coverage regarding the ceasing of free television licences for certain pensioners (Jayne Dowle, The Yorkshire Post, June 13), can anyone please answer me the following question. Why does a pensioner wake up on their 75th birthday and suddenly need a free TV licence?

If they could afford to buy one up to the day before, why do they need a free one now? Why didn’t they need one when they first qualified for a state pension?

This whole thing has, like other similar benefits, been a nonsense for years and has, in the main, only been introduced as another way for some party in the past to gain votes. If someone is on benefits, I don’t have any problem with this, nor do I think it should taken away from anyone already in receipt of this concession. Why, as a pensioner myself, would I need a free licence in a few years time if I don’t need one now?

From: Jeff Denton, Halifax.

THE BBC claim they need the cash and people over 75 should pay for a licence as do other citizens. If this is to be, the big question is ‘Where is the money going to go’?

The quality of many programmes is nothing short of rubbish, although some series are excellent as can be seen by the awards, but repeat on repeats are all too common.

The BBC must clean up their act and ensure the quality is lifted – and that does not mean paying presenters outrageous salaries.

Also local programmes like Look North – or should I say ‘Look Sheffield’ – as it seems that more than 50 per cent of an evening programme is focussed on bad news from Sheffield. Are the researchers not venturing into the West Riding where there are so many things going on and not always of a bad nature?

From: Edna Levi, Stonegate Road, Leeds.

RE the licence fee, why do we need football pundits like Gary Lineker and others being paid thousands of pounds to tell us all about match results of games which we have already viewed live?

Then we have the smarmy regular cast with expensive guests, telling us all about “that was the week that was”. Finally why cannot the director-general of the BBC take a cut in his salary? I am sure he would still be earning a salary in excess of the weekly income of millions of pensioners.

Fewer jobs in car industry

From: Edward White, Huntingdon Crescent, Sheffield.

WITH regard to Graham Branston’s comments on the closure of the Ford and Honda plants (The Yorkshire Post, June 10), this is something we are going to have to get used to in the changeover to electric vehicles.

The cost of moving away from the internal combustion engine will run into many billions of dollars worldwide. Already the major manufacturers are going to collaborate in developing the new technologies that will be required.

Even with this, electric vehicles will cost more to develop and manufacture and, as Ford has stated, production will move mainly to the Far East, Central and South America.

As we are quite well established in electric car production in this country, we may retain some production here but, as far fewer people will be needed to both produce and service these vehicles, the number employed in the industry will, in 30 years time, be a small fraction of what it is now.

Colourful character

From: Joe McHugh, Otley.

CONTRARY to some letters in The Yorkshire Post regarding the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, I think, he is a colourful character and I would rate him in the same class as previous Speakers like Betty Boothroyd and George Thomas.

Move MPs to the North

From: Bob Howes, North Park Avenue, Leeds.

PARLIAMENT requires rebuilding. The question is whether it should be moved to a different site, possibly somewhere up North. It would not be democratic for Parliament itself to decide, as all MPs have a personal interest. As it seems that a confirmatory referendum over Brexit will occur soon, could we not have, at little further expense, a second referendum at the same time that “Parliament be moved to a northern site”?

Moving Parliament to, say, Huddersfield would bring at least 5,000 jobs to West Yorkshire. It would do wonders for our transport system. The Northern building discount would apply, saving billions.

Top-down planning

From: Neil Richardson, Kirkheaton.

A CONSERVATIVE plan focusing on the 50 per cent of people who don’t attend university (The Yorkshire Post, June 12) would rely on the little which is known about educational institutions – each holding unique values and issues. Will Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans include anything new to cater for educational variety across pupils, parents, and teachers in the decade ahead? Or is the future another instance of top-down planning?

Only hope on roadside verges

From: GB Mallison, Oxhill Road, Seaton.

WE do need a major rethink about our wrecked roadsides (The Yorkshire Post, June 12). We could make a start by sounding out Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Will the new chief executive grasp the nettle and help rescue East Riding special verges? The Trust is our only hope.

Our council, adjacent land managers and apathetic bungaloids in their commuter villages have turned their backs on scruffy roadside nature. The ongoing smart culture is to tidy away forgotten butterfly resources.