Tuesday's Letters: The Big Society must put an end to selfishness

MANY readers think that the Big Society will not work (Yorkshire Post, October 8). Maybe that's because the only definitions we've had concern volunteering, challenging the status quo and tasking the authorities, and that's old hat now.

This Big Society has to be something different, like a big shift in culture. One that demands the taking of personal responsibility and behaviour as if we actually own our own lives; one that essentially defines our actions as necessarily personal; one that abhors the greed that promotes deniability of individual care leading to injury and cost; one that resents the Small (me! me! me!) Society.

You report (Yorkshire Post, October 8) about a council warning people to "beware of falling conkers", because one fell on someone's head. No doubt the council is scared of being sued (through lawyers whose sole interest is themselves), so who blames them for telling people to "proceed with care"?

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The problem is that "hurt" people often do not admit responsibility for their activities and behaviour. They blame and seek compensation, when they themselves cannot accept that they should look after their own and their dependants lives by taking personal responsibility for their decisions, actions and behaviour and should always and naturally proceed with care. While criticising those who MPs call "health and safety zealots", the Big Society should also censure those whose interest is in encouraging blame – a corner of the legal profession and the Small (selfish) Society, but maybe they're not something an MP can support.

From: Ian Smith, Colston Close, Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Cats are the real killers of our wildlife

From: Peter Leigh, Darley Yard, Worsbrough, Barnsley.

I FEEL I must comment on the number of letters advocating the destruction of raptors because of their adverse effect on songbirds. This is total nonsense, as numerous studies show.

Professor Roy Brown from London University found the top predators to be grey squirrels and cats. A further study found cats kill an estimated 250 million creatures in one year and the only animal most cats will not kill is a rat. Even the Cats Protection League admits cats kill 55 million birds annually.

Can you imagine anyone buying a cat if they had never seen one? "Do you want to buy this cat? "What does it do?" "Well, it eats, defecates, tortures small creatures to death and that's about it really."

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I have no quarrel with the argument that raptors kill birds, but a healthy population of birds is necessary for an equally healthy raptor population.

Raptors kill to survive whereas cats kill purely for pleasure and, apart from humans, are the only creatures to do so under normal circumstances. Studies can be found to "prove" the argument either way and the only conclusion I can draw from looking at them is that it depends on which side of the fence the report writer is sitting.

It is, however, pertinent to point out that a report from the British Trust for Ornithology found "no link between avian predators and songbird decline". This study was carried out in April 2010 and is up to date and hopefully unbiased.

The music of time

From: Libby Mitchell, Springfield Road, Baildon, Shipley.

THE photo of the 1970 Krumlin Pop Festival brought back 40 year-old memories of parenting teenagers and debating whether to allow them to go to the event or not (Yorkshire Post, October 2).

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It was a shock at the time to see the photo blazoned across the pages of the Yorkshire Post and my husband exclaimed: "Oh crikey! I hope my mother doesn't spot it!"

The girl in the middle with the large hat and long locks is my daughter Janet, then 15 years old, and now a drama therapist and family counsellor in California.

I am still in touch with the two other girls and one of the boys and a good number of their other friends who sometimes call in to see me and reminisce about those times in the 1970s when there was such a sea-change in our society.

The word "teenage" had not even been invented when we were going through those years in the '30s and '40s. However, they've turned out to be grand adults who have coped courageously with the ups and downs of life and even had to deal with their own rebelling teenagers. Karmic justice perhaps?

Words to remember

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From: Mrs D Hinchliffe, Woodhouse Lane, Brighouse, West Yorkshire.

THE three words mentioned in Alma Sanderson's letter (Yorkshire Post, October 5) are familiar to me even if they vary slightly in meaning.

I'm surprised that "fuzzins" has never appeared in "As I Was Saying" letters in Country Week, as it was in common usage in this area.

We used it to describe the bits from a new towel which stuck to one's skin, especially to a man's face – obviously bits of fluff.

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I have never linked "youjarkapiv" with "imazaz"; the latter was used to

describe someone who had something, eg "imazaz plenty o'brass" or "reight big feet".

From: Jack Cuthbert, North Street, Haworth, West Yorkshire.

ALMA Sanderson (Yorkshire Post, October 5) asks if any readers know of the origin of "imazaz".

Yes, I do. I remember a song that went: I'm going back to Imazaz, imazaz the pub next door.

A man's duty to provide

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From: Miss Judy Gibbard, Littlecoates Road, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire.

WITH reference to David Cameron's cuts on child

benefit, this should have taken place many years ago.

What has happened to husbands? It is up to the man of the house to ensure that his wife has enough money to enable his wife to stay at home to look after the children.

I do believe that it is much better for the mother to stay at home until the children are about 12-years-old, before she considers going back to work.

From: D Wood, Thorntree Lane, Goole.

READING the article "Pinch for the middle class as Osborne wields axe",

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(Yorkshire Post, October 5), I feel that Mr Osborne is mistaken in taking child benefit from someone earning more than 44,000 (a situation where the sole earner could be getting 44,500) and yet a household whose combined income is as much as 88,000 – ie, two people earning up to 44,000 – will retain their child benefit.

Surely the 44,000 limit should apply for every household.

Child benefit is now out of date and the Government should grasp the nettle and scrap it completely.

Cost of safe waste disposal

From: Ron Jevons, Muncastergate, York.

I HATE litter and go to extremes to avoid being a litter lout. I even pick up other people's litter and take it home and deposit it in

my own bin.

I recently had an engineer call to attempt a repair to my faulty fridge/freezer. He duly condemned it as beyond economical repair (at a charge of 25).

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Being the tidy person that I am, I called York Council to arrange for the collection and disposal of the aforementioned item thinking that this was a free service provided so that unwanted white goods can be disposed of safely.

Not so, I was told that a charge of 15.50 was applicable unless I could arrange to transport the item to the local waste disposal site. Is there any wonder that certain people prefer to fly tip?

Light relief in the morning

From: Anthony Silson, Whitecote Gardens, Bramley, Leeds.

THE amount of daylight cannot be changed. So a change to lighter evenings would inevitably bring darker mornings. We do not know whether most people in England and Wales want such a change (Yorkshire Post, October 8).

My opinion, and the opinion of others has never been sought. Were my views to be sought, then as lighter mornings suit me, I would strongly press for the retention of Greenwich Mean Time in winter.

Baby on show

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From: Ruth Pickles, Hutton Road, Hutton Cranswick, Driffield.

WHAT on earth is David Cameron thinking about parading his baby daughter at the Conservative conference (Yorkshire Post, March 6)?

Even worse, taking her to his father's funeral a little while ago? Does he really think that it makes him look more of a

family man?

Whether we love or hate Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, at least neither of them used their offspring in this way.

Naval gazing

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From: John Strudwick, Brafferton Hall Gardens, Brafferton, York.

HOW can an island nation with 90 per cent of its trade carried by ships justify reducing its Navy to virtually nothing?

Admirals who judge it right to give up everything except for two big vessels do not deserve to be in post.

Is this Mr Cameron's idea of ensuring he does not play fast and loose with our security?

Let's look at the realities of new Labour leadership

From: David McKenna, Hall Gardens, Rawcliffe, Goole.

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YOUR correspondent T Scaife (Yorkshire Post, October 10) appears to believe that, having got rid of the previous two incumbents, the first a substitute for Walter Mitty and the second a man from another planet, the Labour Party has hit the ground running with the election of

Before we get carried away on a flight of euphoria, it might be a good idea to see who the unfortunate leader has been landed with as members of his Shadow Cabinet.

While the local media appears to celebrate the fact that several members are Yorkshire MPs, it is well to reflect on their credentials as wannabe saviours of the party.

Liam Byrne was the one who left the note saying that "There is no money" before running to the hills, while Ed Balls, who always stood as a staunch supporter of Gordon Brown until the election defeat, has been at pains to heavily criticise his erstwhile financial paragon while attempting to distance himself from the decisions that were taken.

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John Denham hit the headlines a few years ago when he stated that "more police on the streets won't make any difference", while Caroline Flint considered herself to be "window dressing".

I think, contrary to T Scaife's belief, that Ed Miliband is merely a stopgap leader while "new blood" is discovered in the Parliamentary Party or even while the 10 or so followers of New Labour regroup and the "Third Way" idea (or illusion) sprouts from the undergrowth.

I agree with him, however, regarding civil liberties but doubt Mr Miliband's ability to be able to do much while he is surrounded by people whose beliefs and "convictions" can be vastly changed to protect

a lifestyle.