Pensioners punished for life of saving

From: Geoffrey Thorpe, Lister Avenue, East Bowling, Bradford.

over the last week we have seen David Cameron and a few other MPs complaining about the latest request from Europe for two billion euros which comes for being austere with a growing economy. Mr Cameron says that is not the way to be punished for being austere.

Should he not look at what his government is doing to the working people of the UK? You work for 50 years, you buy a house with a mortgage and you contribute to a pension fund, hoping to have a reasonable retirement.

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When you reach old age and maybe have to go to a home all you own then becomes the property of the local council. They are entitled to hold on to your property to pay for your care even though you have paid into the system all your working life.

Also, if you have more than £26,000 in your bank or building society they can take the cash leaving you with the equal of one year’s pay (Government figures). Gordon Brown confiscated millions from the pension funds from the people who were austere.

It just goes to show if you are austere, working people the Government want a large amount of your wealth.

This wealth is removed to pay for the not so austere, who if they have to go into care will get the same treatment as the ones who are paying and they pay nothing.

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It just goes to show that all the people in Whitehall have short memories as they cannot think they are doing the same.

Vested interests

From: Roy Bedford, Walton, Wakefield.

The whole policy of wind energy is a scam, perpetrated by the governments of Britain and Europe. The recent report by the Adam Smith Institute and Scientific Alliance (The Yorkshire Post, 27 and 29 October) reveals the truth, that wind power is unreliable and uneconomic. Most of us have suspected this for many years. The British Government have also known about it, because the report has used official records and statistics.

The obvious question is, why has the Department of Energy persisted in promoting the spread of wind farms in the face of such damning evidence?

I’ll tell you why. Too many of our policy makers have a vested interest in the money earned from developing and installing these monstrosities, none more so than the Treasury, through increased tax receipts.

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Too many people have got rich, at the expense of the general public, who have been lied to, conned and mugged through levies on their electricity bills. It is nothing short of corruption and legal robbery.

Best wishes to Lord Hope

From: Edward Grainger, Nunthorpe, North Yorkshire.

It was with sadness I read of the resignation from formal ministry in the Church of England of Lord Hope (The Yorkshire Post, October 31).

As a former Archbishop of York, Dr Hope gave the annual address at the 75th Service of Thanksgiving for Cyclists at the Church of St Michael’s at Coxwold, North Yorkshire in May 2001. Using as his text passages from the Book of Ezekiel that refer to “Wheels of Fire” he delighted the congregation of wheel men and women and was clearly delighted to add his name of the list of six Archbishops of York who have given the address at this unique occasion that represents the world’s oldest service of thanksgiving for cyclists.

Next year’s service, on the second Sunday in May, will be the 89th consecutive gathering associated with the beautiful village, on what has become known as “Coxwold Sunday”.

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All of my fellow cyclists will I know want to wish Dr Hope well in his continuing links with the Church and to thank him for adding his name, as a former Archbishop of York, to the service Roll of Honour.

After Boris, here’s Gary

From: Gerald Hodgson, Spennithorne, Leyburn.

It is good news that there are now to be more powers devolved to the North. However, to really make a difference each authority will need a charismatic leader. The impact of Boris Johnson in London is clear for all to see.

The question then arises: who to be Yorkshire’s Boris? The answer, surely, is staring us in the face, the man who outwitted the London establishment to win Le Grand Départ and then led it to triumphant success, Gary Verity.

Mr Verity’s reputation does not rest on the Tour de France alone. He also has an impressive track record in business. I look forward to the day when the name “Gary” is as instantly identified as “Boris” and Yorkshire becomes once more the leading national powerhouse it was in the Industrial Revolution.

The frugal President

From: Beryl Williams, Wakefield.

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The world’s most generous and least monied President, of Uruguay, has reached the end of his presidential mandate.

While in office, he gave 95 per cent of his income to charity, living on $1350 a year with his wife, in a small house, driving only a 25-year old Volkswagen.

Last I saw of him, he was sitting in a hospital waiting room in the queue with everyone else. A rare politician indeed.