Housing cost killing rural communities

YOUR lead story on the so-called “rural crisis” (The Yorkshire Post, November 15) is indeed worrying if the remoter villages become impractical places to live.

Margaret Thatcher’s sell-off of our council houses was as short-term and stupid as Dr Beeching tearing out our railway network which served many villages so well. The departure of the younger set is nothing new and villages in many parts of the United Kingdom have a similar age profile.

Building “affordable” houses is not the answer unless they remain affordable when they are re-sold, and that is presuming there is also paying work near enough. Maybe one such career is being an estate agent (aka house-selling agent) a breed which has exacerbated high prices and done well out of it, alongside their allies in property development and planning.

From: John Dean, Beadlam, Nawton, York.

I HAVE followed your campaigns on rural isolation and loneliness in The Yorkshire Post in our local libraries. Ironically I am writing in defence of the very libraries where I work, study and meet people, learning always what it is to be human.

Please consider my letter as representing not only the problems caused by the huge cuts imminent across all rural (and of course many urban) areas in our magnificent county.

I will be delighted if anyone wishes to discuss the topic further. My only previous approaches to The Yorkshire Post have concerned Sir Herbert Read, whose writings on war are contained in a new anthology to be launched at Leeds Art Gallery on December 2. The anthology is entitled All That Was Left of Them and refers to the cover photo of officers of the 2nd Bn Green Howards in March 1918. They have all gone now.

I hope that phrase is never applied to Yorkshire libraries – North, West, South or East.

Conflicting views on ad

From: David Mills, Leeds.

I READ with total astonishment the views of the religious dinosaur Nicholas Clews regarding Sainsbury’s Christmas advertisement (The Yorkshire Post, November 15).

I, for one, will now ensure I buy one of the chocolate bars as a further donation to the Royal British Legion.

No doubt he would say that the ceramic poppy I bought from the Tower of London display is also an act of wickedness! If he can’t see the truth of what is being done here he needs to creep back into his crypt and shut up. Typical religious hypocrisy!

From: Mr R and Mrs V Small, Nethergate. Nafferton.

WE are horrified by this travesty of an advert. Here is not only the trivialisation of heroic bravery for commercial profit, but an implicit dig at certain German supermarkets who are doing rather better.

Unsporting behaviour

From: Charles Day, Sandy Lane, Middestown, Wakefield.

I AM in full agreement with John Watson’s letter with regard to the less tasteful aspects of Rugby Union (The Yorkshire Post, November 11). I also saw the Haka being drowned out by Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and was disgusted and glad I was not at Twickenham.

I experienced some less tasteful aspects some 10 years ago. When I went to Cardiff for a Wales v England match and when the National Anthem was played, quite a few of the Welsh supporters in front of us did not stand for it, and when the English were kicking at goal, the Welsh would whistle. I have never been and will not go back to watch rugby at Cardiff.

I am concerned about these unsportsmanlike actions, but what can we do?

Police failed by leaders

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

OUR police forces are trying to fight crime with one hand tied behind their backs (Geoff Ogden, The Yorkshire Post, November 13).

Lack of funding and resources mean that they are no longer able to provide the service that the public expect of them. They are under severe scrutiny and every mistake is magnified by the media who conveniently forget that police officers are only human after all. The public expect superhuman powers from them, but the Government choose to fail them at every turn.

Sadly they do not help themselves by their appearance, often being unshaven and untidy. Again the Government demands they wear a uniform that does not lend itself to smartness.

They simply cannot restore public confidence without help from government and the public.

Climate soundbite

From: Nigel Pearson, Leeds.

RE your headline “2014 could be wettest year on record say Met Office”. Records since when? A million years? Ten million? Of course not.

This kind of desperate “soundbite” just underlines a truth that one day even the politicians may come to accept – that “climate change” is just a natural phenomenon, always has been and always will be, and nothing humans do or don’t do can affect it noticeably.