Train makers left to dream of past glory

THE train building programme for the Thameslink trains is now not going to Derbyshire as promised – it is going to a foreign firm.

The move was greeted with anger by unions and Labour MPs, who said the appointment made a mockery of George Osborne’s Budget pledge in March that: “We want the words made in Britain, created in Britain, designed in Britain, [and] invented in Britain, to drive our nation forward.”

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers acknowledged that “there will be disappointment in Derby”, but insisted that the Siemens’ bid represented “the best value for money for taxpayers” and would benefit Thameslink passengers with “modern, greener and more reliable trains”.

All the unemployed train makers in Derbyshire can now sit and watch this “green” train rush past as they dream about the halcyon days when British was Best. They can think of those far off days when “British jobs for British people” meant something. They can look back on the lies of the British politicians with pride. That’s all they have left.

National parks vote urged

From: Alastair Dinsdale, chairman, Association of Rural Communities, Carperby, North Yorkshire.

THE Association of Rural Communities would encourage as many people as possible to take part in the latest consultation being carried out by Natural England on the proposed extension of the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks. This consultation ends on July 1.

With its twin aims of seeing more consistency in planning decisions and more democracy in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Association of Rural Communities believes that the only answer regarding these proposed extensions should be No.

This is because the proposals are likely to bring about a decrease in local representation on the Yorkshire Dales National Park committee, besides stretching the resources of the authority when it, and Natural England, have had to make considerable cuts in staffing due to the economic crisis this country faces.

How can Natural England claim that it had a strong response from residents of the National Park in favour of its proposals when less than 0.4 per cent responded to its first consultation?

ARC is also concerned that the proposed extensions do not fit geographically with the Yorkshire Dales. There are other ways to protect the natural beauty of those areas without creating even larger under-resourced quangos.

Airport that fails public

From: Jean M Northrop, Hough Top, Leeds.

We are told by the owners of Leeds Bradford airport that many improvements have been made to it – where? Not for the benefit of the travelling public, (Tom Richmond, Yorkshire Post, June 18).

On entering the arrivals terminal we still have three flights of stairs to climb to show our passports, then back again where an escalator is available to collect luggage and exit.

At the exit, there were a few seats so one could sit while awaiting ongoing transport. These have been replaced by three giant bottles advertising perfume, champagne and a liqueur for which the airport will be collecting revenue.

If a trolley is needed, £1 has to be paid, and this is not returnable as at other airports.

The final insult is the introduction of the £2 drop off/pick up charge. Passengers seem to be of no importance to this airport.

Wrong target for TV critic

From: D Evans, Queensgate, Beverley.

The points which Father McNicholas was making about bad language on public service TV channels (Yorkshire Post, June 15) would have been appropriate, had he been making them about a drama production, or a reality TV show (such as Big Brother); but, in choosing an historical documentary about Stalin’s role in the Second World War – and one which he admitted that he had not himself watched – he sadly picked the wrong target.

It was an excellent programme which offered a very good insight into events on the Eastern Front, and on Stalin’s role in key events, from more of a Russian perspective; and it dealt with some sometimes quite harrowing material sensitively, and in as balanced a fashion as it could.

I think that there was one swear word in the entire programme, and because that was in a verbatim translation of an eyewitness account from 1941-2 of what a peasant thought of the invading Germans, it was completely in context, and not in the least gratuitous.

While I can respect Father McNicholas’s perspective, I would prefer not to have serious historical programmes sanitised: if they are to present historical documents, transcripts or taped recordings in support of an interpretation, then they can often be more illuminating in an unbowdlerised form.