Silence over Digital Region

I HAVE read a number of articles over the last few months relating to Digital Region – the best kept secret in South Yorkshire. Surprise! I actually use it and have done for the last few months – it’s the best thing to happen in the village for years.

I only know about Digital Region because I have connections within IT. For years I have had Virgin, Sky and BT promising super speed at super cheap rates, not once have I had or seen an advertisement for Digital Region or any of its suppliers.

How much has been spent on telling the people of Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield what is on their doorstep? It would be interesting to compare what is spent by the big three and Digital Region.

Coughing up

From: Paul Morley, Long Preston, Skipton.

YOUR correspondent D Birch writes (Yorkshire Post, August 22) that rather than changing the colour of cigarette packets to deter smokers, the organisations behind this idea should instead campaign to stop the NHS treating smokers.

All of the independent reports I read show that smokers cost the NHS about £2bn a year in treatment for smoking-related diseases. However, they pump around £9bn into the economy from the tax they pay on tobacco products. Is he or she suggesting that smokers subsidise a service with billions of pounds worth of tax, but by their method of raising that tax are denied access to it themselves?

Somewhat unfair, if not discriminatory, I would suggest.

Food concern

From: Colin Cawthray, Stowe Garth, Bridlington.

I RECENTLY read that the schoolchildren of Yorkshire were fed £7m of foreign food last year. Why is this happening when British farmers produce better quality food?

Many authorities confessed they did not know where the food came from. The most interesting council refusing to answer questions about their food supply was Leeds. I would be very interested as to why they refused.

After all, they are answerable to parents and every other tax-paying citizens of Leeds.