Power on our doorstep if we really want it

RECENT evidence of the fearsome strength of water must surely emphasise the need for that to be set to work generating more of our daily requirements of power for industry and residential purposes.

Whereas there are periods of dry weather when rivers are less active, we are still surrounded by the sea with regular tides twice a day, more sure than relying on the wind and sun which can be absent for long periods. Further, there are many inland river flows which could be harnessed to like purpose.

Hydro-electric generation is already established in Scotland and Wales so with a bit of ingenuity more could be developed throughout the country. If Lord Armstrong could utilise hydro power in 19th century Northumberland with docks run by such power, surely it is possible to build upon that. The need for alternatives could be reduced to a less reliant factor according to necessity.

Due to the lack of thought by our leaders over many years the country will soon be at the mercy of others, either for natural resources such as gas, or nuclear power where once we were a clear leader.

Now we have the highly controversial introduction of fracking; this at a time when there is increasing evidence that the years of digging tunnels underground to extract minerals and coal is creating or exacerbating the problem of ‘sink holes’. This is dicing with nature at its most extreme, highly dangerous. Britain is far too small a land to experiment with what is still regarded with caution by many, even in the vast acreages of America.

Instead of literally undermining our country, we need to use our more natural resources of waves, water flow, wind power and sunlight. All these could be used in a balanced way to obtain best benefit.

Wind power does not have to be overbearingly ugly in beauty spots, nor do solar panels have to blight acres of countryside. More should also be done to harness the vast tonnage of waste which is sent to rot in other countries, it can be used to generate power, although we do need to be much more responsible by banning the use of non-recyclable materials.

It is time for those who know about these subjects to be brought into practical activities together, so that each process can be employed to give its best potential towards solving our power needs for the next century. In the meantime talk of decommissioning that which is working should be dropped until we are well on the road to providing our own alternatives.

Finally, can we please have British companies doing this vital work.

Fiddling the
jobless figures

From: Jack Brown, Lamb Lane, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

MP Rachel Reeves’ discovery that Universal Credit’s bondsmen are to be removed from the Unemployed Register (Yorkshire Post, February 17) is an 
example of the ignorance 
of MPs who are subject to the mushroom practice of political education by Iain Duncan Smith (Opinion, Yorkshire Post, February 14).

The decrease in the jobless in recent months owes more to the deletion from the statistics of those piloting “work for benefits” – under pressure from the bedroom tax and first-time payment of Council Tax – 
than to mythical new jobs.

Single men of my sons’ generation – most of them divorced and contributing 
to the shameful suicide 
statistics – receive £71 per week Job Seekers’ Allowance.

If (like he is) they are 
trapped in the grotesque, 
medical appeals system they receive that same amount under a different title.

If like him, they have a mineworker’s pension, it is deducted from their benefit.

Under Universal Credit, 
he will be expected to work 
a 30-hour week for £1.25 
an hour.

Universal Credit will create 
no jobs.

It will remove people from the unemployment register; those with pensions equal with or higher than JSA, forever.

The Party that didn’t “do God” abolished walk-in Social Security centres, created premium rate DWP numbers and laid the Job Centre foundations for today’s State cruelty.

The Conservative Party 
should be ashamed of its behaviour; the Salvation Army and the YMCA should be ashamed of their participation.

Our homeless Royal family

From: Malcolm Nicholson, Barwick-in-Elmet, Leeds.

MARGARET Hodge, chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, chooses to rebuke the Queen for the parlous state of Buckingham Palace.

She suggests the Head of State opens the Palace up like a theme park to make some money to maintain it.

So let’s get a couple of facts out in the open.

The acid test of ownership is this: can you sell it? The Queen cannot sell Buckingham Palace because it is not hers: it is ours, it belongs to the people, the nation.

Margaret Hodge and the rest of the left-wing politicos who ran a North London Labour borough with the red flag of world communism floating above it can sneer all they like.

The fact is that the borough had a dozen children’s homes, all rife with paedophilia, about which nothing was done. Of course that was before she re-invented herself.

Independence
for the North

From: JC Penn, Birch Tree Drive, Drapers Lane, Hedon.

THE recent widening of the North-South divide prompts me to suggest that counties north of the Humber and the Mersey should unite with Scotland!

Possibly Wales and Northern Ireland would also choose to join us.