Monday's Letters: Forgemasters decision will have massive knock-on effect

Firstly, the 80m was a loan paid back with interest and was the key to unlock a vast amount of private funding worth in excess of 170m. This project would not just create an additional 180 jobs, but would safeguard 820 jobs directly in the company and up to 2,000 jobs in the supporting industry reliant on Sheffield Forgemasters. The additional employment in the construction phase over the three or four year build programme would have again created in excess of 1,000 direct and indirect jobs for an industry in need of large capital construction projects at this time.

The knock-on effect to the UK nuclear programme will be massive, as it now only has one supplier EDF Areva with a viable program for the Areva EPR system. Westinghouse's AP1000 system was reliant on Forgemasters being able to supply forgings to meet the required build programme in the UK.

I was part of a bigger team during my time with Forgemaster that has worked on the project for the last three years. This project was by no means on a whim and a prayer. It would have taken Sheffield Forgemasters' exports from 100m per year to more than 250m a year – and that is hard core goods being sold out of the UK generating cash for a country which is in dire need of boosting its export potential to gain revenues.

In short, this decision will affect more than 4,000 jobs in the next four or five years, and cost the UK upwards of 1.5bn in lost revenue from exports that Forgemasters would have been shipping out of the country. This has also inadvertently reduced the competition for supplying new nuclear power plants to keep Britain's lights on by half leaving just one supplier.

If only Ministers had looked at the knock-on effects.

From: Shaun Gray, Portland Avenue, Branston, Burton on Trent.

From: Gerald Hodgson, Spennithorne, Leyburn.

I HAVE a great admiration for Sheffield Forgemasters and their ambition to be one of only two companies in the world capable of making the massive forgings required by nuclear power stations. However, surely the coalition Government has a point when it says that this project should be commercially funded.

We, the taxpayers, have poured countless billions into rescuing the banks, notably RBS and Lloyds which are largely publicly owned. Perhaps the most important function of the banking system is to provide finance for productive industry.

The banks need to get together and provide this loan. If they can afford huge sums in obscene bonuses to people who produce nothing, surely they can fund this vital development in the revival of British manufacturing industry?

The banking industry badly needs some good PR. This is its big opportunity.

From: John Turley, Sheffield.

SO, with the spending cuts so far announced, which will affect the North, in particular Sheffield, very badly, David Cameron has shown that he is indeed son of Thatcher – the Tory Right need not have worried (Yorkshire Post, May 19). However, millions did not vote Liberal Democrat to get a Right-wing Tory Government, so Nick Clegg should start looking for a new job in five years' time – the voters of Sheffield will not forgive and forget in a hurry.

From: Richard Godley, Whitby, North Yorkshire.

THE decision not to give the money to Sheffield Forgemasters to enable them to become probably the only company in the world able to produce castings for nuclear power stations is terribly flawed. We are having to fast-track nuclear now in order not to have black-outs to our electricity supply in the near future. Keep the skills and jobs in Britain.

Questions to tax us all in hard times

From: James Anthony Bulmer, Peel Street, Horbury, Wakefield.

MY wife retired 13 years ago, aged 60. She now receives a state pension of 58.78 per week. Five months ago, and this was the first in 13 years, a form arrived from the Inland Revenue.

After four or five more letters from the tax people, the end result is my wife pays them 10 pence a month income tax, taken directly from a very small private pension.

We then read, in the Yorkshire Post, under "City restaurant firm collapses under 330,000 debt burden" (Yorkshire Post, June 9), 230,000 of which was owed to, guess who, the Inland Revenue. Little wonder that the country is so much in debt.

How many more of these fabulous firms who borrowed to pay their way will also be in debt and will blame the banks when they cannot pay the dues and demands?

Turning over the same page of this edition, we read "City campaign aims to cut abuse of parking badges for disabled" – and I agree entirely.

However, below this item is a further heading – "City acquires first piece by acclaimed artist" – accompanied by the photograph of a disabled creature without arms entitled Birdman. This disabled person is thought to be able to fly so parking will not be an issue, apart from the place in a museum which is reported to be worth 250,000. If all disabled people could afford this, there would be no problem parking. The Birdman does really look to be in poor health, almost ready to fall apart. Does he really need such a large amount of money, for such a poor creature, especially in such hard times?

Drink-drive solutions

From: Bill Martland, Church Street, Misson, Doncaster.

I'M a bit confused by the statistics used by Sir Peter North to justify a lower drink-driving limit (Yorkshire Post, June 17). At one point, he says that "around 430 people are killed each year by drunk drivers". Then he says that the simple expedient of reducing the limit for those 430 who already exceed it will save (a suspiciously precise) "168 lives in the first year".

I'd have thought that the correct calculation would be to work out how many fatal accidents involved people who had between 50 and 80 milligrams in the blood stream as people who obey the current law might reasonably be expected to keep to a lower limit. The thought, however, that people who are already often two or three times over the present limit will have their behaviour affected by an even lower limit seems pretty fanciful to me.

If we are serious about this problem, I'd have thought that increasing the certainty of being caught generally and a particular targeting of young drivers would be much more likely to have an impact, though this would involve more police patrols and less reliance on cameras.

Enduring joys of Latin

From: Muriel Stammers, The Poplars, Leeds.

I AM writing in support of Paul Andrews (Yorkshire Post, June 17) as I have loved the Latin language and also the history of Rome. I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to the speeches of Cicero at the age of 12 and, although I spent all my working life in public finance, by the time I left school at 16 (scholarship expired), I had learned the joys of choral singing in Latin.

Over the years, I have had to learn three different spellings and pronunciations of the language: classical, church and mediaeval (for studying the history of Leeds). I am a disabled 82-year-old but still find life very interesting if somewhat restricted. I lived through the Great Depression and the Second World War and consider myself very fortunate in my family, my Church (Anglican), my city and my county.

From: John Gordon, Whitcliffe Lane, Ripon, North Yorkshire.

YOUR letter about reading the ancient classics in the original Latin caused much discussion in our household. We all agreed that the writer is a "rara avis".

I explained that I learned enough Latin to get me into university while my wife said that the top stream in her school studied Latin, the B stream German and the C stream domestic science. Of course, there was some comment about that. Then we settled down to watch Wallander in Swedish – with English subtitles.

Let the IRA apologise and consign this to history

From: Len Fincham, Warrel's Road, Bramley, Leeds.

SO, the British soldier is not a policeman but a killer (Yorkshire Post, June 16). Rightly so, for he is highly trained to kill, as with all soldiers of every country. Iraq proved it once again and I expect Afghanistan will repeat the folly of governments who put our men to impossible tasks, they are not policeman! They are now required to "search for hearts and minds".

Just imagine this when a soldier sees his mate wounded or killed by a civilian in a riotous environment? His finger will itch on the trigger, particularly when the riot was banned by higher authority.

It happened in Iraq years after "Bloody Sunday" and now we have Iraq claiming compensation for the deaths of riotous civilians in a war environment.

During the Northern Ireland troubles, Margaret Thatcher held a referendum there asking "Who do you want to govern you?" More than 60 per cent democratically voted to stay under British rule but that meant nothing to the IRA, who carried on killing civilians and soldiers alike. The rioters on that fateful Sunday were offending their democracy and even adding to it by breaking the ban on riotous gathering.

Of course, we are all sorry it happened and our apology is necessary but will those who rioted on that day and the IRA who backed and provoked them apologise to us for breaking the law?

Our apology over "Bloody Sunday" has been costly. It's time for the IRA to do likewise and then let the whole pointless thing pass into history.

Seaside special on the railways

From: Margaret Claxton, Arden Court, Northallerton.

I AGREE with Ian McMillan about the train journey from Doncaster to Bridlington (Yorkshire Post, June 15). Does anyone else remember that before the war, at certain times, you could travel by train in specific areas for a week as much as you liked for the princely sum of 10 shillings?

My parents would take these out on Bank Holidays. The area from Doncaster, where we lived, covered Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea.

I loved it. It usually involved a couple of hours' wait in Hull between trains and we became experts on Hull's museums and art gallery.

Then, there were the arguments as to whether it was Hornsea or Withernsea we'd been to the previous year.

The facts about Miss Potter

From: Mrs Angela M Holdsworth, West Garth, Sherburn, Malton, North Yorkshire.

I REFER to the article on Beatrix Potter (Yorkshire Post Magazine, June 12). I would point out that Miss Potter was on holiday in Wales,

not the Lake District, when she received news of Norman's death.

Also, she bought Hill Top in 1905, not in 1896 as it is indicated in the article.

In true Hollywood style, a number of facts have been altered in the film Miss Potter to make it into a pretty love story. I suggest people enjoy it as such, rather than a completely accurate record of her early life.