Doormats for Murdoch

From: Richard Billups, East Avenue, Rawmarsh, Rotherham.

THERE’S an old Yorkshire saying: “If tha waits long enough tha’ll see thy sen satisfied.” How true that is. On July 28, 2011, I had a letter published that stated Maggie Thatcher, as she was propped up by Rupert Murdoch, would go down in history not as the Iron Lady but as a rust bucket.

It’s come out now that in 1981 she met Murdoch and he ended up with the Times newspapers without the transaction being referred to the Monopolies Commission.

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William Snowden from Leeds castigated me for what he called my tongue lashing of Maggie (Yorkshire Post, August 4). Poor William thought that I only write about Maggie’s being Murdoch’s puppet but as time will tell, every incumbent from 1979 to today have been and are, door mats for Murdoch.

Politicians and the press should have a working relationship but Murdoch has taken it that he, and he alone, was in charge.

Safety firsts

From: Robert D Leakey, Giggleswick, Settle.

TRAGEDIES such as the collapse of sports stadia can have causes due to effects poorly understood at the time of construction. Often it is unfair to blame the crowds themselves, or any individuals.

It was in the airline industry that the long term effects of the stresses on metal structures became understood.

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Unfortunately, it required the de Havilland Comet tragedies, where jet aircraft broke apart during flight due to metal fatigue, to prompt research and subsequent understanding.

Thankfully, our much-better knowledge of materials now can be used to design and maintain much safer structures of all types.

Great care

From: Joe McHugh, Fairfax Flats, Otley.

I WAS recently a patient at St James’s Hospital in Leeds and the care and attention I received was second to none. I would like to thank the doctors, nurses and all staff on wards 12 and five for their dedication to looking after me.

I did feel at one stage that I had become a member of staff and something akin to camaraderie developed between us all.

Thank you again to St James’s and of course, the NHS.