Tuesday's Letters: Bold Blair deserves better than this bullying

Tony Blair has recently been subject to bullying, by so-called "anti-war" campaigners. As a direct consequence he has cancelled plans to attend a book signing session in London (Yorkshire Post, September 9).

While I understand and respect his reasons for doing so, I believe he was wrong. One should not give ground to such bigoted and bombastic people, for it is they who are the real enemies of peace, and of freedom, justice and democracy.

In the field of foreign affairs, Tony Blair pursued policies that were consistently high-minded. He was a bold leader and a staunch ally, who did not shirk from taking military action.

In Bosnia, Serbian aggression was curbed; and Milosevic was toppled. In Sierra Leone, British forces were deployed to restore order to a region ravaged by brutal, drug-crazed guerrillas.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies were driven from power, and thereby prevented from using that benighted land as a base from which to plan and launch more terror attacks upon the West.

And in Iraq, a psychopathic megalomaniac was thwarted in his desire to dominate the Middle East. Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Kurds, and fired Scud missiles at Israel. If he had developed or acquired nuclear or biological weapons, he would have used them and turned the Middle East into a conflagration – with disastrous

consequences for the wider world.

War is a human tragedy. I am "anti-war". Most people are. But sometimes war is unavoidable, necessary and, yes, just.

Tony Blair did not chase the easy path; he chose the right one. It takes courage to do that. Public opinion is notoriously fickle; jeers invariably follow in the wake of cheers. And brave leaders are often subject to calumnious comments.

Tony Blair is not a "war criminal". He is not "a liar". He was a Prime Minister who possessed the requisite courage and conviction to do what was right, necessary and just. And for that, I honour him.

From: William Snowden, Butterbowl Gardens, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Rubbish blight worse than Bosnia

From: G Laing, Swarcliffe, Leeds.

I MOVED to Swarcliffe recently – it is my first time living back in the UK for over 13 years having just returned from a number of long tours of duty overseas. The area is nice enough and very convenient for both the city centre and major networks, however, there is one thing marring the entire area: rubbish.

I have to say that never in my life have I seen so much rubbish blowing around the streets. No, that is wrong, Basrah and Baghdad were slightly worse but Swarcliffe sure beats everywhere else I have lived which includes Bosnia directly after the war, includes Kabul and many other cities and areas across five other countries. In essence, the place looks like it has just been through a war and this is no exaggeration.

I have to say I am absolutely disgusted with what I have encountered here in Swarcliffe. Rubbish blowing along the streets, dog dirt around every corner, evidence of fly tipping everywhere that would otherwise be considered countryside. Do we not have a council (to which we all pay premium council tax) that is meant to ensure a clean and hygienic area for us to live?

If the council really cannot be bothered to assist the residents of Swarcliffe then how about the courts? How many people, both youths and adults are sentenced to paltry "punishments" each week in the area? How many of these could be tasked to clean up the area in which they live and do not respect?

I would be very interested to find out exactly how many people have been prosecuted for discarding rubbish on my streets over the past 12 months. I imagine not one.

Can something not be done to make this a nice and healthy area to live?

How we can handle cuts

From: Phil Hanson, Beechmount Close, Baildon, Shipley.

THE TUC and the loudmouths such as Bob Crow are dinosaurs and against any cuts (Yorkshire Post, September 13). It is a fact of life that cuts need to be made to balance the state's books and what a state they are in after the spend, spend, spend approach more akin to a 1960s pools winner rather than Prudence.

However, there are two issues that are very, very worrying about the proposed cuts:

n Why cannot the Government insist on a moratorium on bankers' bonuses for a couple of years? The money may make little difference to the black hole but it sends the right message. If the bankers had one ounce

of shame, it would not have to be discussed.

n The head of HM Revenue & Customs, Dave Hartnett, showed the

unacceptable face of New Labour remains, where the fat cats are not just in the private sector but in the heart of civil service.

Mr Hartnett said it like he saw it – he is remote, bullet proof, overpaid and if he screws up will get a handsome pay-off and an index linked pension beyond ordinary working people's wildest dreams. He should have been bounced out of employment without a penny.

If we are all to taste the cuts, the bankers and the civil servants must be made to share the load.

Teachers and civil servants working till 70 is far more feasible than most factory and farm workers, most of whom are lucky to have a half decent pensions. The days of people being dealt a poor hand in the public sector are long gone for many and the private sector is often the poor relation as global markets have driven down costs to remain competitive in the market.

The price of cheap milk

From: John Waring, Beverley Road, Market Weighton.

I WOULD like to reply to a letter from R Hanson (Yorkshire Post, September 2). His question is why, if British dairy farmers are being treated so badly by the big monopolies, ie the supermarkets, can't they do anything about it?

It is certainly not because of over-production. There are on average 12 dairy farmers a week giving up because it is impossible to make a profit.

He suggests that we form our own co-operative which would be able to deal with the supermarkets on equal terms. We had such protection where all milk produced was bought and sold through the Milk Marketing Board. This lasted 60 years until Mrs Thatcher and her government decided it was a monopoly and had to be disbanded.

The supermarkets could not care less where their milk comes from as long as it is cheap. I think the public deserves better than that.

Sacrifices for freedom

From: John E Richardson, Scott Lane, Wetherby.

LIKE most sensible folk, Trev Bromby is anti-war (Yorkshire Post, September 7) but has he stopped to think what the past consequences would have been had all our politicians not had the courage to stand up to "bullies" in the past?

If Asquith had not faced the mighty German army in 1914 or a comparatively "meek" Mr Chamberlain had not committed thousands of British and Commonwealth troops to stop the German and Italian aggressors?

What would have been the consequences if "our own Iron Lady" had meekly given in to the Argentinians in 1982? The results would certainly have been that there were no memorials for these "louts" to defile. The answer should be to treat them the same way as they defile the memory of all our gallant service personnel who, throughout our history, have given their all and made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom.

Britons under the thumb of a foreign dictatorship

From: D Wood, Thorntree Lane, Goole, East Yorkshire.

THE following have been reported in the last week or so:

n The EU ambassador to the United States will not speak for Britain in America;

n The EU's working time directive is ruining the training of British doctors and putting British lives at risk;

n The EU has told the NHS they cannot check foreign nurses' qualifications, again putting British lives at risk;

n The EU finance minister wants to directly tax British subjects;

n The EU wants to impose road pricing and road tolls in Britain and that while everyone else is having to make cuts and suffer job losses, the EU bureaucracy is to be increased and given a five per cent pay rise;

n The British taxpayer is also going to have to pay more for inflated EU pensions so they can retire at 60, again while most of ours are being cut or wiped out altogether, or not paid until the age of 72.

With at least 70 per cent of the British public now wanting Britain to leave this unelected foreign dictatorship, the question has to be asked: why are we still members?

If the coalition cannot run this country without the EU, they should resign and let someone who can have the opportunity.

Preservation of local justice

From: Roger M Dobson, Ash Street, Cross Hills, Keighley, West Yorkshire.

PERHAPS you would consider this reply to the letter from Don Burslam (Yorkshire Post, September 6) regarding the closure of magistrates' courts.

The purpose of having local magistrates' courts is to ensure local justice with matters being tried in the area in which the alleged offences were committed and being heard and tried by the peers of the alleged offenders.

Yes, there is a common tariff for offences but every case is different and even with the record of the offender in front of them any bench of two or three can differ greatly in its thoughts to those of any other; either in the same building or in a town 10 miles away.

The only tidal wave in the protest is that which is looking to preserve local justice.

Banks called to account

From: Alexander Ogilvy, East Parade, Heworth, York.

SINCE a bank account is apparently so important these days, it seems unfortunate that a number of people are excluded from using them. This particularly affects bedridden or housebound people who may obviously not be able to reach a bank personally and are apparently not allowed to open an account.

Also, the insistence upon a restricted number of proof of

identification, such as passports and driving licences, is another unnecessary obstacle. Obviously not everybody has a passport or drives a vehicle.

Surely it is in the banks' interests, as well as prospective customers, if it was easier for them to open an account and deal with a bank?

Decision on middle schools

From: Mark Stapley, Settle Middle School, and Mrs M. Parker, Ingleton Middle School.

FOLLOWING your article (Yorkshire Post, September 7) on school reorganisation in the North Craven area of Yorkshire, we should like to point out that retaining the middle schools system in our area is still one of the options to be considered.

It is not decided at this stage that middle schools will close. The use of the quote from an unnamed County spokesman about schools operating a deficit budget is misleading as neither middle school is in deficit.

City in need

From: Iain Morris, Caroline Street, Saltaire.

A MINISTER for Leeds may be all well and good but what about a minister for Bradford? I think anyone would say we are in greater need

(Yorkshire Post, September 8).