Friday's Letters: Lawyers' massive profits cannot be justified

Am I alone in finding it obscene that the going rate is a profit per partner of about half a million pounds? Who are these people and how can they justify earning about three times as much as the Prime Minister? And there are a lot of them. The law is not rocket science. It is essentially a matter of following precedents. No creativity is required and the profits are bled out of the rest of the economy.

The endless "elf and safety" furore has been created not by the legislation but by one set of lawyers persuading people to make absurd claims and another set of lawyers awarding them. Everything has been complicated to counteract this. Local events which used to be happily and successfully run by committees of public spirited people now have to set themselves up as not-for-profit companies to protect the people involved from potentially crippling claims.

The simplest commercial lease now runs to 45 pages and the most straightforward sounding court case can last weeks and cost the unfortunate participants hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Recourse to the law is available only to the poor, via legal aid financed by the taxpayer, or the mega rich who are not worried about the cost. The vast majority of us cannot afford the risks involved.

I suggest that the time is right for a root and branch examination of the way the legal system works in this country.

From: Gerald Hodgson, Spennithorne, Leyburn.

Let Labour's extra laws lie unused

From: RC Curry, Adel Grange Close, Leeds.

THE report by the Law Commission regarding the excesses of the Blair-led Labour government in the creation of 3,000 new laws, and therefore additional criminal offences, is very appropriate (Yorkshire Post, August 25).

This morass of legislation was almost entirely unnecessary, being nothing more than knee-jerk political reaction to events, coupled with ignorance. There were, in most cases, existing laws which could have been used if the offenders had been caught and brought to court.

Instead of incurring additional expense to get rid of them, it has only to be advised in a directive that these should not be pursued through the courts to put them out of use. There are already plenty of such lying, ancient and unused, in dusty files.

Further, there is no point in having laws which are left unpursued, such as driving while using a hand-held telephone, where there seem to be few provisions to ensure compliance.

This must be one of the most widely abused laws among all social levels, and certainly not one which should be abandoned.

Instead, perhaps the penalty should be tightened to one of an immediate driving ban for six months. Maybe that will discourage the dangerous practice.

On the other hand, surely it is not beyond the wit of skilled technicians to devise a way which prevents such instruments being used while in a vehicle?

Prevention, after all, is better than cure.

Right route for footpaths

From: H Marjorie Gill, Clarence Drive, Menston.

IT is surprising to note your comments suggesting the Government should provide cash for councils to maintain footpaths (Yorkshire Post, August 30).

Many are the individuals who give of their time and efforts to clear waterways and woodlands. Why indeed should not the users of footpaths do likewise? What I would suggest is that groups of walkers, ramblers or hikers should "adopt" a stretch of their favourite route and keep it in good repair.

If help is needed for the supply of tools, etc, the work could be supervised by a council official, but there should be minimum cost to the taxpayer. After all, most people have to pay for their

entertainment or sport, why should people roaming over other people's land get their hobbies scot-free?

Naturally, someone will object that the land belongs to everybody!

Does it? What about the farmers and those who own the estates? All land belongs to someone – perhaps some to the councils or government, but that which is owned by everyone still should not be exploited by a small number without payment in kind.

Wheels of misfortune

From: PH Green, Radlyn Park, West End Avenue, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with AG Marsden's comments (Yorkshire Post, August 26) relating to driving and talking to in-car cameras on TV. This is highly dangerous and totally unnecessary. It is extremely worrying that programme makers even contemplate it. It virtually condones bad driving.

While on the subject, I also totally abhor the type of driving exhibited by Jeremy Clarkson and his crew in highly expensive cars, hurling them round circuits at ridiculous speeds. All this promotes is

the stupid following of this type of driving by young people of far less ability on the open road. It's not clever – it's dangerous.

We really ought to be promoting safe, legal driving, rather than this show-off over the limit stuff.

As the driving examiner said to my wife three years ago when she passed her test in Edinburgh: "Mrs Green, this now gives you a licence to learn." Sound sense there.

Line is just the ticket

From: Alan Griffiths, Clova Road, Forest Gate, London.

I'D like to welcome fellow northerners to the transformation of my part of east London. You can arrive in the middle of the Olympic Park building sites on Britain's fastest domestic trains.

Stratford International is six minutes from St Pancras and there have been four trains an hour since December 2010. I've now made the return journey six times and it is already much quicker than the Underground.

The new Docklands Light railway branch opens this autumn, followed by the new shops next year, both well in advance of the Olympic Games. There's just one problem. East Coast is in denial about the existence of Stratford International station and won't sell you a through ticket. You can buy them from most other train operating companies.

Remember the victims

From: Peter R Hyde, Driffield, East Yorkshire.

I can well understand the concerns of the family of Raoul Moat (Yorkshire Post, September 1) wanting to know the exact details of how he died but I would ask them also to consider the man who lost his life because he became involved with Moat's former girlfriend and the blinded officer who was shot because he was a policeman and for no other reason.

Raoul Moat was obviously an extremely disturbed man who clearly dreaded another long prison term and one wonders what other outcome there could possibly be. I feel that all the bickering and difficulties being aired in the press are no help to the investigation.

At the end of this expensive inquiry, I doubt if his family will be satisfied and I can well understand why.

To lose a family member in any circumstances is bound to be traumatic, whether or not the death was by accident or suicide.

Councils out of touch with reality on staff payouts

From: Andrew Allison, Hull & East Riding Co-ordinator, The TaxPayers' Alliance, Blackwater Way, Kingswood, Hull.

WITH public service cuts coming in thick and fast, the news that more than 1.5m of taxpayers' money has been spent on "golden goodbyes" to senior council employees across Yorkshire, is very worrying (Yorkshire Post, August 27).

Earlier this year, it was revealed in the Yorkshire Post the East Riding of Yorkshire Council awarded a discretionary payment of over 364,000 to the pension fund of one of its directors. The TaxPayers' Alliance ran a protest campaign, and despite overwhelming public anger, the cabinet decided to go ahead and make the payment.

This proves how out of touch some of our elected representatives are with those who elect them.

At a time when employees in both the public and private sectors are enduring pay freezes and facing redundancy, we expect council leaders to spend our money prudently. A redundancy payment of 340,000 – which has been paid to one individual by Sheffield Council – is not only far beyond what could be expected in the private sector, it is a slap in the face to other council employees who will not receive a payout anywhere near as generous. It lowers morale and increases the risk of industrial action.

I am not in favour of central government imposing salary and redundancy caps. It is up to local authorities to do the right thing, and with some councillors up for election next year, I'm sure voters will remember how their money is being spent.

Now is the time – more than ever – for councillors to face up to the responsibilities we give them when we cast our votes on election day.

Many of them will get a shock – however, I think this is the only way they will experience the reality many have to endure on a daily basis.

Disgrace of road repairs

From: Mike Holt, Club Lane, Rodley, Leeds.

AM I the only one to notice that the vast majority of potholes in our roads (Yorkshire Post, September 1) are the result of bad surface replacement after the utilities have dug up the road?

A typical case is the road, now being dug up yet again, between Headingley and the old Meanwood Arms in Leeds. An absolute disgrace that is, in effect, a surface of the trench tops from end to end, all botched.

Surely, in this modern world where the lawyers are chasing any individual for cash for every minor slip-up, why is the council not pursuing the perpetrators, even if it is five years down the line?

Threat over probation

From: Jim Brettell, Monkbridge Street, Meanwood, Leeds.

I NOTE that probation chiefs have at last felt able to speak openly about their concerns regarding imminent Government funding cuts (Yorkshire Post, August 28).

The stakes couldn't be higher as, under the previous administration, they were forced to become independent trusts as a prelude to possible privatisation.

In an environment of unprecedented spending cuts, they now have to hope that the vast and costly National Offender Management Service continues to commission services from them, rather than private companies or charities instead. The public need to wake up to this and ask themselves if they really want the Probation Service treated in this way?

Heat shield

From: Arthur Quarmby, Underhill, Holme.

WE are told that the so-called greenhouse gases (95 per cent of which consist of water vapour – clouds to you and me) prevent the heat from the sun from escaping back into space and are therefore a bad thing.

But insulation works both ways, and the clouds do a wonderful job in shielding us from the unbelievable blast of heat from the sun.

If the protection afforded by those greenhouse gases were taken away or even reduced, most of the earth would become uninhabitable.

Weight loss

From: Dr Hilary Andrews, Wentworth Court, Nursery Lane, Leeds.

THE amount of NHS funds spent on obesity surgery is disgraceful when cancer patients cannot get the drugs they need to prolong their lives.