At least Pope is not younger than me

THE conclave has taken us all aback, not just by so swiftly electing a Pope, but one from Argentina, of all places.

Oh gosh, that dreadful rabble rouser, Mrs Kirchner, will be truly insufferable now.

No doubt she will be urging Pope Francis to make his first overseas Papal visit to the Malvinas.

The only comfort for me is that at least I am still younger than the Pope. First it was the policemen on the beat; then in 1997 it was the Prime Minister; then in 2002 it was the Archbishop of Canterbury: all who were younger than me, and thus made me feel that bit older.

Had the new Pope been younger, that would have been the last straw: I’d have probably kicked the bucket tomorrow. After all, when the Pope appears to be a kid, that is surely telling you something.

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

FOR one of his initial duties, the new Pope elected to shun the official limo, choosing instead to travel with his cardinal colleagues on a coach. You couldn’t see our bigwigs doing that in this country, could you?

One law for us on bed tax

From: Ian Barnes, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.

WITH the advent of the so-called bedroom tax due to come into being next month, this will mean anyone living in a council or housing association property and are deemed to have a spare bedroom will find their benefits cut under the Welfare Reform Act 2012. That is unless they move to a property with fewer bedrooms.

A friend of mine came up with an interesting hypothesis (which I agree with totally) regarding this reform. He posed the question that if Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Clarence House, Kensington Palace and Holyrood House are state-owned, could they be classed as glorified council houses? After taking into account all the lackeys and hangers on living in these palaces, castles and houses, we are sure there will still be spare bedrooms.

If so, does this mean that the Windsors will have their benefits cut by a reduction in the Civil List, or as usual is it one law for us and another one for them?

From: David Treacher, Nelson Road, Hull.

WE read about the bedroom tax and the effect it will have on many. How silly it is in fact as there is not a plentiful supply of houses for most of these people to move to. Has the Government any idea how ordinary people live? What concerns me is what will be the next change affecting mostly the lower end of the class structure. It makes you think about the subject seriously, it’s worrying.

From: Bill Marsh, Beadle Garth, Copmanthorpe, York.

DESCRIBING those that blight our society as “troubled families” implies that it’s not their fault. They can’t be to blame for having the police attend 94 times in a year nor having a semi-permanent link to Social Services. No, the fault must lie with others.

And, of course, they have “complex needs”.

Again, implying that they have requirements that somehow aren’t being met – which obviously results in the mayhem they cause for themselves and all around them.

Can’t we start calling a spade a spade? What’s wrong with a bit more stigmatism and a little less understanding?

No reward for these councils

From: Mrs Joy Pattison, chairman, Harthill with Woodall Parish Council, South Yorkshire.

AS a parish councillor of some 34 years on a non-political parish council, I would like to bring it to Tom Richmond’s attention (Yorkshire Post, March 16) that we do not receive financial reward for what we do.

Indeed I feel our reward is to see our parishes grow and develop due to our efforts and that of our parishioners. When a planning application comes to us via our borough council, in our case Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, we are invited to comment on the plan. This does not mean that we have any influence either way on the outcome of the application.

While I agree that “there needs to be a fundamental review about the cost of local government” please do not lump parish councils with the next tier up.

We do our best under difficult circumstances, the cuts by local councils affect the services we receive and therefore the services we need to deliver instead.

When I first became a parish councillor, local councillors did not get money for being a councillor – only expenses. Perhaps the change was what spoiled things, people only looked at “what is in it for me”. As I first said, please make the distinction between grassroots parish and local councils.