Stupidity over Midsomer Murders cast

I AM astounded at the reasoning and stupidity of the story concerning the producer of Midsomer Murders who has been suspended for stating what is absolutely true, that you don’t get many ethnic minorities in some little country villages. You don’t have to be a racist to tell the truth.

What is happening in this country, where our freedoms are being lost due to political correctness, continental influences and the pseudo-liberals in our midst? Who are these people who seem to be snooping around every corner, who know nothing about the practicalities of life, and who are making life a misery for some of our good citizens who wouldn’t hurt a fly?

We have been in several conflicts over the last century trying to maintain our freedoms which were bought with much human sacrifice and which are gradually being eroded.

I hope it hasn’t all been a waste of time. I still treasure the fact that I can put pen to paper and say what I like without breaking the law. There are several countries in this world where that would not be the case.

If we are going to make immigration work, and now we have no option, we must regard our friends as being like us, with the same sense of humour, having stoicism when things are difficult, and of course having the bulldog spirit for which we have been renowned for hundreds of years.

Let’s not keep running to teacher.

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington.

WE should not give way to the racists who dictate that TV drama should always have a coloured person in a story about murders in an “olde worlde” English village or maybe about farming communities on the Yorkshire Moors.

Realities of pensions

From: Bob Crowther, High Street, Crigglestone, Wakefield.

IN reply to the letter from Peter Asquith-Cowen (Yorkshire Post, March 15), I find his comments regarding the private sector pensions most pretentious.

It has been the policy of first the Tory, followed by the Labour Government, to use the pension pot as a milch cow. Take for example the miners’ pension scheme. Millions of pounds, consisting of contributions and investment profits were skimmed off by first the Tories, to be followed by Labour.

An inquiry by Lord Truscott into the debacle ruled that “after due consideration and the amount of monies involved, the taxpayer should not be expected to stand the loss”.

Mr Cowen castigates the private sector for failing to fight their corner in order to obtain a decent pension package,

Does he not realise that the bulk of private sector employees are not members of a union, unlike members of the public sector and are also victims of the ending of the final salary scheme upon their retirement, unlike members of the public sector?

Private employees are not only funding their own future personal pensions, but are also heavily subsidising, through taxes, the pensions of the public sector.

Whether right or wrong, the public sector are now not immune from the financial burden which hangs over our country and as such, cannot expect to be treated as a special case.

If, as Mr Asquith-Cowen advises, the private workers created a fuss and an uproar, they would most likely be branded militants and trouble causers, although without the backing of a union, due to the mobility and uncertainty of the private sector employee, this is most unlikely.

Fears over injury claims

From: Simon Wilson, Morrish Solicitors, Oxford Row, Leeds.

DAMAGES for people who have been injured through no fault of their own have, for many years, been known to be too low.

So it was with great disappointment that I heard the Government had dropped part of a Bill which would have provided an opportunity to explore this issue. The draft Civil Law Reform Bill offered a platform to bring the law on damages up to date and debate Law Commission recommendations that damages for personal injury are too low.

It was scrapped, however, because it did not “contribute to the delivery of the Government’s priorities”, and would be expensive to implement.

I, and many other members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), am concerned by this. Though we live in straitened times, as a society we still need to make sure vulnerable people are properly protected.

It is bitterly disappointing that nothing will be done now to bring this part of the law up to date.

Support for the Royals

From: Maureen Hunt, Woolley, near Wakefield.

BEFORE any Royal function, there are always rumours of a lack of interest and enthusiasm. However, when the occasion arrives, the vast majority of the public enjoys the event to the full with true British patriotism.

Like the Rev Barrie Williams (Yorkshire Post, March 9), I have also been a lifelong monarchist. In 1953, I spent the night with school friends on the pavement in the Mall to have a grandstand view of the Coronation the following day. If only I could put the clock back and repeat that fantastic experience!

However, as I can’t and not being enamoured of street parties, I shall be firmly glued to my television on Friday, April 29, and woe betide anyone who tries to dislodge me.

We are so fortunate that we can see the whole ceremony and the parade in the comfort of our own homes. This is when we really appreciate the brilliance of television.

When it is known how many people watched the wedding, we will have a fairly accurate picture of the number of royalist supporters in the country and I have no doubt that it will be overwhelming, as always.