Stirring some pleasant memories

YOUR appreciation of Leeds librarian and public speaker John Luckett (Yorkshire Post, July 2) stirred a pleasant memory of his visit to Wetherby Retired Men’s Forum in November 1989, where I was fortunate to be publicity officer for some years.

The term “acid-faced virgins” was, I believe, a quote from James Hadley Chase and his private eye and a tongue-in-cheek aside at female colleagues by Mr Luckett.

The vote of thanks included mention that his address was accompanied by his “soft shoe shuffle” gliding across in front of his audience. Public speaking came naturally to him and he was interesting and entertaining. He would certainly have strong views on the public libraries situation now.

Problem of procurement

From: Douglas Hartley, Irving Terrace, Clayton, Bradford.

YOUR editorial “Railway regrets” (Yorkshire Post, July 6) deplores Britain’s decline in manufacturing capability. The Government is to award a contract for 1,200 new railway carriages to the German firm Siemens, and not to Bombardier, the only remaining train maker in Britain.

The loss of 1,400 jobs at Derby would appear not to matter. It would be the same whatever government we might have – Tory, the present coalition or Labour. The EU’s Byzantine procurement rules prevail.

The noun “procurement” does not appear in my 1960 Oxford Dictionary. My Chambers Dictionary defines “procuration” as “the management of another’s affairs”. This exactly sets out my country’s unhappy situation. We are the “managed” – in complete submission to the dictates of the Franco/German-led European Union.

Sacrifice of young lives

From: R Cartlidge, Storth Lane, Wales, Sheffield.

IT’S a huge shame that our young people are sacrificed for the sake of capitalist control in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vast amounts of money are despatched in our quest for political dominance in a global area that the West depend on, both in strategic and materialistic terms – particularly oil. Our bellicose indignation under the guise of democracy, invading these faraway countries that our forefathers had invaded, formulating the British Empire. We then extracted silver and gold using foreign labour in harsh, slave-like conditions.

By our unjust campaigns, we are made to suffer at home and abroad; on a daily basis, we encounter ongoing countless casualties, and losses of human life that needn’t be.

It is our man-made tragedy injudiciously carried out that, at the end of the day, we have achieved nothing; apart from the oil barons, of course.

Opposing objectives

From: DM Loxley, Hartoft, Pickering.

THERE is a problem with the “Home and dry with a dam” suggestion by David Bentley (Yorkshire Post, July 9). Build a dam, fit a water turbine, generate electricity and control flooding. As a bonus one has a tourist attraction.

Tricky. To generate electricity the dam would have to be full or very nearly so, as it would were it to be an attraction. In this state it would not be able to hold back much, if any, flood-water. It would promptly be overwhelmed.

If it were set to contain flood-water it would have to be empty, therefore no electricity generation and no tourist attraction.

There is much to be said for the theory of leaky-weirs. Both plans require land available for inundation. Landowners and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway might have objections.

The distressing part is that so many “with authority” have promised so much and delivered nowt.

Pension poser for teachers

From: John Morris, Station Road, Cranswick, Driffield.

WITH reference to Jayne Dowle’s article (Yorkshire Post, June 30) on teachers standing up against the Government, the teachers’ pensions and many other local authority pensions badly need reviewing.

It appears they can gain a pension the rest of us can only dream of and we are expected to fund this whether we like it or not.

I would always defend the right of anyone to be able to express opinions and debate questions, but the ideas put forward supporting their right to strike lack proper regard to the effects on the public and the effect on their daily lives.

Give me Bill Carmichael’s views any time.