Fare deal that 
Thatcher could not tolerate

THE debate on bus operators exploiting passengers (“Young left stranded by soaring bus fares”, Yorkshire Post, April 19) has been taking place for the past 25 years.

It was never a problem here in South Yorkshire when the old metropolitan council ran the buses – the fares were subsidised from the rates and no-one had any difficulty getting to the shops, work, college etc wherever they lived.

The policy was based on a concept of Municipal Socialism under which everybody contributed and in one form or another everyone benefited. Locals voted for it in droves but since the concept was absolute anathema to Mrs Thatcher she promptly abolished the authority that introduced it. It’s been downhill ever since.

Successive governments have continued to stick plasters on a cancer and so long as we have an essential public service in private hands with the bottom line being shareholders’ interests the passengers will continue to suffer. The sooner the Labour Party plucks up the courage to re-regulate the bus industry, the better. Bringing the buses and the railways into public ownership would be even better.

From: DS Boyes, Rodley Lane, Leeds.

ALTHOUGH I couldn’t agree more with Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton about the deplorable state of public transport today, neither the Thatcher/Major Conservative administrations, nor today’s traffic conditions at Armley gyratory, are to blame.

The fault lies squarely with Labour, who in three consecutive terms of office between 1997 and 2010 did absolutely nothing to put things right.

Mr Hamilton’s latest contribution is not about public transport at all, but simply Labour propaganda in the hope that gullible voters will believe him.

I urge people to ignore such rhetoric, and concentrate on the true historical facts.

Flying in the face of reason

From: Mike Speakman (Humberside Deputy Chief Constable 1999-2000), Worlaby, North Lincolnshire.

DURING the election campaign for the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, Godfrey Bloom MEP, who was contesting the post, wrote to the local police authority asking them to delay any decision to hand over the Humberside helicopter to a National Police Aviation Service until the new commissioner was in post.

Mr Bloom argued that it was not in Humberside’s interest to lose control of its own resource, which was paid for by Humberside taxpayers. It could have been sent to Northumbria or West Yorkshire.

Humberside Police Authority did indeed refuse to sign over the helicopter.

Humberside has decided not to join in with the National Police Helicopter scheme. It would have meant spending 33 per cent more on air support and they would not have got the same service as they get currently by having their own helicopter. Not everything central government does benefits local communities!

As a retired Deputy Chief Constable, I applaud Godfrey Bloom’s stance and the decision the force has made to put local interests first.

Appalled by absent MPs

From: TW Coxon, West Auckland Road, Darlington.

I WAS appalled when watching Today in Parliament by the lack of interest shown by our elected members.

There are over 600 elected to the House of Commons to run the country on a democratic basis, yet I counted no more than 15-20 members in the whole House who were concerned enough to attend to debate the economic state of the country. They were debating the Finance Bill No. 2.

If they themselves see no reason for them to be present for a debate, which I assume is important for the country, then why do we need so many scroungers who, it seems, are only in it for what they can get out of it?

Yes, it’s time for radical Parliamentary boundary changes. No doubt the chamber will be full when that’s debated. No doubt all will join forces to protect their lucrative interests.

White people suffer racism

From: Trisha Scott, West Park Terrace, Scarborough.

HAVING just read the 
Archbishop of York’s “Saturday Essay” (Yorkshire Post, April 20), about the murder of Stephen Lawrence, I would like to add some comments of my own, if I may.

He writes about what Stephen may have achieved, had he not been so brutally murdered – a successful career, a happy family man perhaps, respected and loved in the community.

While we are never, as a nation, allowed to forget what happened to Stephen, we are also brainwashed into believing that racism is only ever a case of ethnic minorities being targeted by whites.

Wrong. There are as many, if not more, cases of racism perpetrated by blacks and Asians against whites, often for no other reason than their victims just happen to be white. Yet how often do the media make a point of diligently reporting such offences?

Perhaps Dr Sentamu could reflect on some of these other victims of racist crimes in future? Racism cuts two ways.