My sadness towards these Yorkshire youngsters who sprayed saliva at me – it was not funny

I WAS walking cross country to deliver fresh vegetables to a friend confined due to severe health problems. As I walked along the cycle path behind Harrogate High, three young men, probably aged about 16 who were sitting on the fence adjacent to the path, laughingly began coughing loudly and attempting to spray saliva in my direction.

Subliminally they are probably as frightened as the rest of us and find an outlet by what they imagine to be ‘amusing’ behaviour. They were all strong and able-bodied and, in different circumstances, quite possibly intelligent young people. Moreover, I do sympathise with the abrupt necessary cessation of their education. However, if anyone knows of youngsters equally bored and troublesome, please recommend them to consider voluntary work which would increase their self-respect and provide useful purpose.

From: Phyllis Capstick, Hellifield.

I SPEAK as an 80-year-old person. To my mind every worker in this country of ours is a key worker. They all work for themselves, their families and to keep this country on its feet. What could be any more key than that?

From: Gerald Hodgson, Spennithorne, Leyburn.

THE building society which looks after some of our money has informed me of the remuneration of its directors. I applaud their transparency but I found the figures breathtaking.

Last year, three executive directors were paid £2,319,000 (the CEO nearly £1m) and seven non-executive directors a 
further £661,000, a total of £2,980,000.

Building societies are very worthy institutions, but their business model is about the simplest on the planet. They borrow money at one (currently negligible) rate of interest from people like me. They then lend that money at a higher rate on mortgage to people buying houses.

They only lend a proportion of the value of the house on which the loan is secured so there is virtually no risk, and no judgment needs to be made other than a routine assessment of whether the the borrower can afford the repayments.

After this dreadful coronavirus crisis is over, can 
we assess who in society deserves to be well remunerated (think NHS and care home staff to mention just two groups) and look again at whether people sitting comfortably in warm offices making the simplest of decisions need to be so royally rewarded?

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well. Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected].

Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available. If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor