End payouts to foreigners 
who take jobs

SO, David Cameron thinks he has pulled off a masterstroke by reducing the Jobseeker’s Allowance paid to foreigners coming to our country by three months.

It is astounding and astonishing to me that a responsible government would pay any monies whatsoever to foreign nationals who are coming here effectively to take jobs from British people when we have almost 2.3 million of our own citizens without jobs and desperately seeking employment. It is unbelievable, but unfortunately it is also true.

Our hospitals are full, our schools are full, many of our pensioners are living in abject poverty and yet this government, like the previous Labour government, continues to distribute our hard earned taxes to people from other countries who have never contributed a penny piece to our economy instead of using those precious funds to help our own citizens. I am almost (but not quite) lost for words.

From: John G Wildie, Briar Grove, Sandal, Wakefield.

At last, the Liberal Democrats have shown some common sense by doing a U-turn on the bedroom tax, and it is not before time. This was yet another stupid, idiotic Tory policy, targeting the lower paid people again just to get more money out of the working class.

Senior Liberal Democrat Baroness Shirley Williams has stated the bedroom tax was a very bad mistake, plus thousands of people have been forced out of their homes. She has now stated that the Labour government would ditch the unpopular tax. Danny Alexander at last admits that the situation was a mistake. It is not too late to ditch the bedroom tax by supporting the Socialist Workers’ Party. Have the Liberals seen the red light?

From: Hugh Rogers, Messingham Road, Ashby, Scunthorpe.

THE season for moaning about the loss of high streets seems to have come around again.

Look, people don’t shop in city centres any more. At least not enough of them. High streets are history. Shopping has moved out to the fringes of towns, where rates are cheaper and parking is easier. Along with the increasingly dominant internet, it’s called progress. Like it or not, the jam is now on the outside of the doughnut.

We need to stop looking back to some mythical Golden Age involving rosy-cheeked shopkeepers and start using our town and city centres as places where people can live, study, walk the dog and enjoy leisure activities.

Shopping? It’s so boring. 
Don’t let it get in the way of real life.

From: TW Coxon, West Auckland Road, Darlington.

what is happening to this country? Every day we read of the difficulties facing cash-strapped councils, who cannot afford to maintain road repairs or to keep open public toilets and health authorities who are unable to reduce the demand on their services because they are short of funding.

Yet, at the same time as they moan and groan, they are able to increase CEOs salaries by £25,000 per year and allow health chiefs to run up £50,000 on expenses! One wonders where the checks and audits are, especially when we read of hospital cash scams (The Yorkshire Post, July 29).

To compound all this misery we are also told, yet again, of schools being allowed to teach English as a second language, but isn’t education suffering the same financial constraints?

I am sure that many of the general public, like me, fear we are on a downward spiral.

Will anyone do anything about it? I doubt it!

From: Mr M Allen, Luttrell Close, West Park, Leeds.

IN July 14, I had reason to go to Wharfedale Hospital’s minor injuries unit.

On arrival, I was booked in and asked to take a seat and wait for my turn. After a short while my name was called and off I went to the treatment room. I was under the care of two nurses.

I was asked a few questions about my injury and was given a choice of treatment. I did not feel any pain and the nurses were very efficient and not short of friendly banter.

I am now on the mend thanks to those two nurses and they were two of the nicest people I have ever met. One final note: from arrival to treatment and leaving it took only one hour and 10 minutes. And, the cost of car parking? Just £1. Now that is what I call efficient.

A nice line in corporate guff

From: Stephen R. Batty, Briarwood Close, Gateforth, Selby.

REGARDING business jargon (The Yorkshire Post, July 29), it’s a few years now since I left it all behind, but I can recall one or two absolute blinders – perhaps the best (ie the one that produced the biggest groans and longest rolling of eyes) was “... let’s run it up the flagpole and see who salutes”. I still find that one almost too much to bear!

I hope you will occasionally give us a few more of these gems – they seem to be evolving as time passes, rather like a virus. I wonder what the likes of Sir Ken Morrison would have said if anyone had fed him such a line?

Tuesday’s leading article about the NAB portfolio sell-off contained a brilliant example of this corporate guff? Andrew Thorburn referred to the disposal as “organic run-off”. Should someone tell the Yorkshire Water Authority?