Monday’s Letters: We need a tougher stance towards crime and jail sentences

HOW absolutely brilliant and to the point was the lead Editorial comment relating to prisons (Yorkshire Post, September 7).

It is now perfectly obvious to every law-abiding citizen of this country that we now need a new Minister for Justice instead of “wet weekend” Kenneth Clarke. Prison sentences must be of a length that make a prisoner sit up and think before he or she commits another offence that is serious enough to carry a custodial sentence.

If a judge or magistrate sends someone to prison for a certain length of time, then that is the time they must serve in prison, and with no time off for good behaviour.

From: John Gordon, Whitcliffe Lane, Ripon.

TO those of us who were conscripted into the Army at the age of 18, it is rather ironic to hear National Service proposed as an alternative to prison. What had we done? It is certainly a short, sharp shock.

I remember stroking the furniture when I got home on my first leave. Brian Thurling (Yorkshire Post, September 7) says it helped form his character and I am sure he has many admirable qualities, but I prefer to see my father as my role model. The constant bullying by the NCOs instilled in me a dislike of institutional life.

The comradeship of the barrack room was a redeeming feature but that made it all the harder when the casualties came back from Korea. Mr Thurling is right; NS made a standing army but I don’t see why boys of 18 should be in the front line. We do have professionals now.

Lay down a sensible wage for the fat cats

From: Arthur Marson, Mountoy Road, Huddersfield.

FOR too long, the “fat cats” in the public sector have been overpaid and, in consequence, allowed to obtain over generous pensions.

The time is overdue for maximum/minimum wages to be redefined and a sensible scale ratio agreed, including pensions.

The maximum wage should be £100,000 and the minimum wage adjusted to take into account savings made from the above, and taking the utilities back into public ownership, along with local bus services.

Trolleybuses would also provide reduced carbon emissions from these vehicles and the fewer cars on the road due to people using a well thought out, affordable system, together with the labour needed to instigate the scheme.

If carried out nationwide, this could be the start of the much needed revival. We need the right mix of private and public (not one or the other) to provide the best results for all the people, not just those who are more equal than others.

These changes, including new pension scales, could be implemented over five to 10 years, to give those affected time to adjust to the new scheme.

Will the powers that be take the hint?

From: Malcolm Naylor, Grange View, Otley.

THE concerted campaign to scrap the 50 per cent tax for those on high incomes gives credence to the old maxim: to make the rich work harder you give them more money; to get the poor to work harder you give them less.

Never has this been truer than in today’s Conservative capitalist society.

The rich give themselves huge increases to inflate their already bloated and unjustified salaries while the poor are taxed at marginal rates in excess of that applied to millionaires and billionaires who created austerity for the rest of us.

To end inequality, a maximum income related to the minimum wage should be imposed. The minimum wage legalises poverty pay and not until the maximum income is set will it see any real signs of improvement. It will be argued that we live in a global economy and the imposition of a maximum income will not work. But this is an utterly false spoiling argument to protect those in power.

A cap must be put on the obscene incomes given to often-worthless people and there has never been a better time to do this.

The public must organise itself and not rely on the sham democracy that is in control. We have had the Arab spring. We now need the western leap.

More than meets the eye

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

I WRITE to applaud Robert Cartlidge’s letter (Yorkshire Post, September 2).

Mr Cartlidge must have noticed, as I did, one of the first items shown on television, before the Libyan revolt really erupted, and that was thousands of migrant workers fleeing the country. Had they been taking the jobs of Libyans? Had the rebels been incited by an outside source?

As Mr Cartlidge indicated in his letter, there is more to this than meets the eye. And why after 40 years of dictatorship, have these nations suddenly revolted? We must include Egypt and now Syria. Will the UK be drawn into Syria, Iran or even North Korea?

From: Phyllis Capstick, Hellifield, Skipton.

AFTER returning from his summer break, David Cameron says that he believes the UK was right to intervene in Libya (Yorkshire Post, September 6) and that Colonel Gaddafi must not be allowed a bolt hole or pampered hiding place. Surely it must be time for Tony Blair to have to face the consequences of his actions under international and Iraqi law? What is good for one must be good for another.

Cold war for drivers

From: David Tankard, Birkdale Avenue, Knaresborough.

I AM prompted by your article (Yorkshire Post. September 6) to write about road gritting.

Recently, in winter, I saw a rear wheel drive car spin its wheels at traffic lights as it tried to set off. The road was icy but level, and the car slipped down the camber and was stuck against the kerb. Your article refers to a resident wanting his unadopted road gritting.

It would appear that he too has a rear wheel drive car. Both Mercedes and BMW make rear wheel drive cars in Germany, which has far more snow than us. How do they manage? There would appear not to be a problem if you fit winter tyres, which, in Germany and some other European countries, are now a legal requirement in snow and ice.

Key issues are never raised

From: Geoff Sweeting, Station Road, Wressle, Selby

there are two elephants in Downing Street rooms that never get discussed and yet are at the root of all our financial and social problems. They are over population and our membership of the EU (Yorkshire Post, September 9).

We live on a small island with a transport structure that is creaking at the seams due to the millions of people that wish to use it. Thanks mainly to Dr Beeching, we do not have the railway capacity to take the strain off our roads. Our last Government opened the doors to mass immigration in a bid to boost the economy, forgetting that the immigrants have dependants, want to travel and also get ill and grow old, further burdening the welfare state.

Our tax structure and welfare system encourage population growth, rather than a system that actively discourages it. The growth in dysfunctional families is a direct result of providing accommodation and benefits to unmarried mothers. Many children are now growing up with no idea who their father is, which must have a negative effect on their development.

The other area of population overload is in the House of Commons, where the coalition is at least reducing the number of MPs to 600, rather than 650, although 300 would undoubtedly be sufficient, particularly if they had fewer holidays!

Many of your contributors, including myself, have written about the EU ad infinitum and have yet to see a reasoned argument for our membership, which is costing us a fortune. Unless the Government notices these elephants before the next election, I shall reluctantly have to desert my lifelong principles and vote for UKip, the only party likely to free us from European control.

What about the rights of cigarette smokers?

From: Ruthven Urquhart, High Hunsley, Cottingham.

as a moderate, yet regular, smoker (cigarettes inside and pipe outside) I get somewhat bored by people continually warning me that each cigarette, or pipeful of baccy, shortens my life by 10 minutes.

We know the risks involved, but surely just “living” is a major risk in itself. Successive governments receive huge income from tobacco taxes, and possibly more than the cost to the NHS for those being treated for smoking-related conditions. In this connection, how can any statistic be verified?

I fully understand and appreciate the anti-social and unhealthy behaviour many people consider us smokers display, but I do feel to some degree, that we are unjustly victimised and stigmatised.

Surely, if a brewery or privately-owned pub and the respective landlord is in agreement, their taverns could provide just one room on their premises, for those of us who wish to combine the intake of tobacco with alcohol.

Furthermore, I utterly respect the reason for the ban to include railway station concourses, but why, oh why, can we so-called “lepers” not be permitted to light up on open air platforms? Does this “nanny state” really believe that our addiction causes birds or flying insects to suffer from our universally criticised habit?

I remember, late one last autumn evening, arriving in Dublin by bus from the airport. Outside each of the many pubs on the streets leading to the city centre, the pavements were overflowing with drinkers enjoying their two alleged sins.

Civil rights? I don’t think so.