Friday's Letters: Counting the cost of a day off to celebrate Royal wedding

THE commercial and industrial problems which will be caused by the public holiday for the Royal wedding, giving us four Bank Holidays in 11 days, will surely kill off the argument for St George's Day being a statutory Bank Holiday, as that would bring those problems on an annual basis, not just as a one-off.

Perhaps it is time we looked at the whole structure of Bank Holidays. While, in the past, they were a welcome break for millions of workers who did not get holidays, there can now be very few, if any, workers who do not receive the statutory annual holiday-with-pay entitlement of at least two weeks, and in many cases a whole lot more.

I hesitate to suggest we just keep to the religious holidays of Easter and Christmas, lest somebody suggests we do the same for other faiths which have arrived on our shores over the past 50 years.

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In that time we have lost several Christian holidays, Ascension Day and Pentecost, so perhaps in times of economic difficulty we should tackle the vexed question of other holidays, especially as that seems to be an argument for altering the way we set our clocks each year.

From: Alan Carcas, Cornmill Lane, Liversedge, West Yorkshire.

From: Belinda Jackson, Dewsbury.

I WOULD like to voice my horror at the way the Government has granted a Bank Holiday for the Royal wedding.

I run a small business – struggling to keep the wolves from the door, and in a much worse state as a country, and now the Government has decreed that we can afford to give our staff (95 per cent of whom have no intention at all of watching the romantic event) an extra day off.

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The cost of this to the nation, reportedly will be in the region of 6bn to industry – almost the same amount of money we are lending to the Irish.

Why don't the powers-that-be realise that the population could have the day off with no extra cost if they just, for one year only, moved the May Day from Monday to the preceding Friday? Problem solved.

From: Philip Smith, New Walk, Beverley, East Yorkshire.

OF course, we'd all like an extra day's holiday but the CBI has estimated that April 29 next year will cost the economy 6bn. And then there will be all the security costs, which will run into millions.

Why can't the Windsor family have a private wedding at St George's chapel on a Saturday and show some concern for the parlous state of the economy? Obviously, they couldn't care less.

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In a proper democracy – where we would be all treated equally – then this sort of pantomime wouldn't happen.

I and every citizen of this country is of equal worth and should be treated as such. My son's school motto is "High Merit – High Reward". The monarchy's motto is in effect "High Birth – High Reward".

I am fed up of the segregation caused by the monarchy. No-one can be the head of state of this country unless they are white, upper class, rich, Anglican and belong to the Windsor family. How meritocratic, fair, just and equal opportunity is that?

The very institution is completely at odds with how it should be in the "mother of democracy". What a bunch of hypocrites we are.

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In some ways, I almost feel sorry for William and Kate. They are expected to continue the "royal" charade when they would probably be happier having a much more normal life. William is far more capable than opening hospitals, launching ships and all the other money-wasting, unnecessary things his grandmother does and gets paid a fortune for.

God save us from the Queen and her family.

Death penalty could save innocent lives

From: John Wilson, Wilsons Solicitors, New Road Side, Horsforth, Leeds.

I WAS interested to read Jeremy Browne MP's column (Yorkshire Post, November 22) who was arguing against the death penalty. There is, of course, another side to this story.

Mr Browne says that executing somebody "does not eliminate the fact of the original crime", but what it does do, at the very least, is eliminate the possibility of any further crime by that individual.

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I was taken a couple of years ago by reading in the paper that somebody had asked the Government, presumably under Freedom of Information legislation, how many people had been murdered since the abolition of the death penalty by people who had already murdered somebody else before, and the answer was 111. That is 111 innocent victims who met their end that who would still be alive today by definition if the death penalty had not been abolished.

It is, of course, quite true that if we had the death penalty, occasionally an innocent person would be executed, and we have seen a few miscarriages of justice over recent years.

But totting them up in my mind, I cannot get it near anywhere near three figures. Maybe the Government should do that totting up for us, then we could compare it with the 111 and make up our own minds.

Mr Browne says: "It is not for the Government to dictate who lives and who dies".

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Quite so, but it is for the Government to work to minimise the number of innocent people who die. I would like to know these figures.

Lantern menace

From: Charles Taylor, Hemingfield Road, Hemingfield, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

WITH reference to the letter from CB Booth (Yorkshire Post, November 20) on the subject of Chinese lanterns, I hasten to give my support to his views and stance on this very serious danger.

It really does defy belief that in a country almost drowning in health and safety legislation (a lot of it of a very petty nature), that anyone, including apparently children, can at any time launch a burning missile into the sky which may come to earth at random on to any one of innumerable sites vulnerable to fire.

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Roofs (imagine thatch), wood yards, chemical works, petrol stations, woodland, fields of corn, dry heather moorland – the list is endless.

May I suggest that (based on my own experience of contributing to getting the fireworks madness down to manageable proportions) anyone wishing to contribute to irradicating this Chinese lantern menace express their views direct to their MP and thus get the matter raised in the House of Commons.

The only way for Britain

From: V Platt, Hereford Court, Harrogate.

AS a member of Ukip, I wholeheartedly agree with Mrs Cope, Jane Collins and Les Arnott (Yorkshire Post, November 20) concerning the corrupt EU but I'm afraid the vast majority of British voters do not.

Although 85 per cent of voters when questioned agree fully with Ukip's manifesto, at every election, general and local, they still vote Lab-Lib-Con, who are all fanatical EU supporters and will never change their opinions or positions. Remember, Cameron's reply before the election; when challenged he snapped back: "Stop banging on about Europe."

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The only hope of getting our country back is for everybody to vote Ukip or wait for the inevitable when the EU implodes as it eventually will. Let's hope that comes sooner rather than later, but hurry up, I'm 82 already.

A centre of remembrance

From: Donald W Bamforth, Lindley Moor Road, Huddersfield,

HAVING read the letter from Mrs Moody of Pontefract (Yorkshire Post, November 20), I have to agree with her about how few people in the North have heard about, or know any detail about, the National Memorial Arboretum, the UK's Centre of Remembrance.

I give a talk to interested groups in Yorkshire about the NMA and what it stands for, namely remembrance, forgiveness and reconciliation, and to explain that it is more than 150 acres of land planted with 50,000 trees and with 160 memorials, all of which recall the names of those who have laid down their lives and to those who continue to do so today, for their country.

A further aim is to teach the present and future generations about remembrance and the true meaning of Britishness and also to make the NMA a world-class national centre for remembrance.

The basics of education

From: David Holland, Sherwood Avenue, Doncaster.

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I, TOO, believe that Terry Duncan (Yorkshire Post, November 22) is absolutely right when he suggests that the way towards a future education is getting the "three Rs" correct.

As a young child, I was completely baffled by the emphasis placed on the three Rs. I had it instilled into me, time and time again, that you got nowhere without a good knowledge of these important aspects of education. No wonder I could not spell; I was taught Reading, Riting and Rithmetic.

With much pain, I gained a good working knowledge of the subject matter of the three Rs which, as promised, did get me somewhere, an 11+ pass, but I still struggled for a while with my spelling.

However, with the privilege of a grammar school education, I soon learned that reading was fine, but, alas, riting started with a W and rithmetic started with an A; no wonder that I had been confused and struggled to learn correct spellings!

Breaking down the language barrier

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

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HOW refreshing to see a balanced view of Asians who work in call-centres.

Peter R Hyde (Yorkshire Post, November 22) empathises with the patient young Indian who penetrated his strong Yorkshire accent and slight deafness to sort out his computer problem.

These intelligent and underpaid souls have to deal with a plethora of British regional speech patterns every day yet we rail at them because they don't speak like us.

My guess is that they have a larger English vocabulary than most of their English counterparts. Nor, in my experience, do young native English call-centre workers communicate any better.

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None of this, however, detracts from your correspondent's main point which is the negative effect of cheap Asian labour. I may soon face the absurdity of having to make a call to India to arrange an appointment with my GP a hundred yards away.

Meanwhile, the young man who helped Mr Hyde would be somewhat cheered by the experience. He would not be used to English callers who show an iota of sensitivity.

From: Nick Thompson, KC, Carr Lane, Hull.

I READ with interest the comments of your reader, Peter Hyde, of Driffield (Yorkshire Post, November 22), who was surprised upon calling BT's broadband technical helpline recently to find that it is based abroad.

Mr Hyde asks, not unreasonably, why BT can't provide a helpline that's staffed by local people.

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I'd like to draw Mr Hyde's attention to an East Yorkshire broadband provider with a helpdesk that's based in Hull and is free to call.

KC offers broadband in Driffield that's up to three times faster than BT can provide in the town.

Voting for police commissioners

From: Max Nottingham, St Faith's Street, Lincoln.

I DO not support the Tory-led coalition. However, I do support their policy of electing police commissioners.

I think the police have been a law unto themselves for too long. And the fact that top-brass officers will object is a good reason for the electing of commissioners.

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Years ago, I went to a police meeting. The chief constable was there in uniform. The police authority chairman also attended.

The body language suggested the chief constable was running the show.

Perhaps the chairman was parked illegally.

Bring on the voters!

Examining student loans

From: Peter Bye, Park Crescent, Addingham.

THE fairest way to calculate the student loan and the repayment is to make both proportionate to results achieved in examinations.

Those achieving the highest grades repay the least and those with the lowest grades repay the most.

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This would take some organisation, but it would ensure students applying themselves diligently would be appropriately rewarded while those who are wasting their time at the taxpayers' expense would be penalised.

Warning note

From: Mrs JM Andrews, Back Lane, Easingwold, York.

IF, as has been suggested, the Duchess of Cornwall is helping Kate Middleton to settle into the Royal Family, then Miss Middleton should show great caution and remember how, as Camilla Parker-Bowles, the Duchess also offered her help to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.