Tuesday's letters: Let's show common sense to reduce debts

THE Prime Minister has laid the blame for "unavoidably tough" decisions, which are likely to include public sector job losses and cuts to pay and benefits, firmly at Labour's door for its reckless spending and public sector splurge which could cost the country 70bn a year in debt interest alone (Yorkshire Post, June 8).

The recession has already caused many job losses in the private sector with companies having thinner order books and with those avoiding unemployment having to accept far lower earnings.

Everyone will be affected by the current economic downturn, or will they?

There are so many ways to begin to correct the appalling mess we are in and the whole decadent state we have drifted into needs radical reform.

We have to change our outlook and the flawed mind set we have accepted and if this can be done, smaller savings which seem logical and easily implemented could lead to far greater achievements.

It has been said many, many times but if common sense was applied once more our perilous situation would begin to improve immediately.

Stop foreign aid to India and China when Britain has enormous debt, but these countries have booming economies.

Introduce a maximum salary for all public sector workers to restore reality and give them an understanding of the real world.

Stop providing all the latest high-tech leisure equipment for prisoners.

Stop paying wages to prisoners – work should be compulsory and unpaid.

Only pay child allowance for the first two children.

Stop paying job seekers allowance to those who refuse offers of employment.

Completely review all welfare benefits as too many simply encourage the work shy.

Only grant legal aid to those in genuine need.

Charge intoxicated people for hospital A&E treatment.

Britain has become a benefits culture over the last couple of decades with too many people believing the state owes them a living. "I am entitled to claim this ", has entered the vocabulary of them and is now almost a way of life and they can become very indignant if their claim to such monies is questioned as just and truly deserving.

What John F Kennedy said at his inauguration in 1961 – " let not ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country" – is very appropriate and should be everyone's duty.

The valuable lessons of living history

From: Don Crossley, Tower Avenue, Upton, Pontefract.

JAYNE Dowle got it right when she outlined the difference between "tourist history" and real history (Yorkshire Post, June 10).

We have been running a successful local history

group since 1993, and our members have, on

numerous occasions, met with children at local schools to talk about all aspects of the village of Upton.

We have covered many subjects from the Domesday entries to farming, education, transport, coal mining and every subject that relates to

this area.

We also produced four books and a DVD, and, as some of us are somewhat aged, we have been able to give first hand knowledge of past years (I'm 85 and am not the oldest!)

One of our books covers all the service people that we could list in the village, who served in the Second World War – we listed as much detail as our research allowed, which included the addresses from which they left, and to hear the children say such things as "I live in that house or in that street" or "That's my Grandad". I myself flew Lancasters and my brother was at Dunkirk.

The questions which the children asked surprised us, and the interchange was rewarding on both sides.

This is living history in the making, and is most rewarding from a very

practical viewpoint with facts, memories and perceptions. Most importantly, we all learn.

Ed Balls and immigrants

From: Paul Cockroft, Shawcara Court, Tingley, Morley, Leeds.

ED BALLS may claim to be a great political leader, but let's not forget that he promoted the benefits of immigration prior to the General Election and he did not have any bad words to say about the effects of foreign workers.

Mr Balls has lost his well-paid job being a Minister and is now seeking promotion to become the leader of the Labour Party.

Why has it taken this university-educated politician so long to understand the statistical evidence that "Labour got its immigration policy wrong"? Allowing a deluge of foreign workers into our country has helped to lower the wages and made conditions worse for the British workers and trade union members.

To promote a more multi-cultural society, New Labour invented a devious scheme called Project Brace. This politically correct ideology involved giving work permits to foreign workers to allow them to clean NHS toilets and carry out other menial jobs. About 1.1 million British jobs were given to foreign workers while 900,000 young people from our country were allowed to remain idle on the dole and claiming benefits.

If this Morley politician is brave enough and believes in democratic free speech, he could hold a public debate in Leeds to discuss the effects of Project Brace.

Caught by a clamper

From: Miss Julia Dunning, Croysdale Terrace, Whitley Bridge, Goole.

WITH regard to your Editorial comment "Road rage" (Yorkshire Post, June 8), many years ago, at 10pm after

leaving work in Leeds, I parked my car to purchase fish and chips. In to time at all, I returned to find my vehicle clamped. So far as I knew, I hadn't parked illegally but the clamper who came to release me pointed out a notice on a wall which was totally obscured by a vehicle. I asked why this other vehicle hadn't been clamped but the fellow couldn't give an answer.

The nearby police station, Millgarth, said they were unable to help me but at that time, an officer there told me that they were totally "fed up" with the situation.

I had to pay the 50 by cheque and the clamper wrote my cheque guarantee number on the reverse.

Fortunately, my bank later let me know that the cheque guarantee number had one digit missing so they were not obliged to process it. I stopped it.

A bonus for me!

Hypocrisy from MPs

From: Mrs C Burrowdale, Town Moor Avenue, Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

JUST what hypocrites have we got as MPs in Doncaster, with the news that a new Chief Executive as well as a team of commissioners are to be put in charge of the council. The three, Flint, Milliband and Winterton, release statements that they welcome the news.

Where have their heads been over the years? Two were elected in 1997 with the other one, Ed Milliband, also being in Doncaster long enough to know what was happening in the council chamber. They were happy to keep their heads low until after this election and once they got another four years on the gravy train, as well as the Labour Party losing the election, they decide to back Eric Pickles' announcement.

The three of them should be ashamed because it was their party members who fetched shame on this town and they all knew what was happening but refused to get involved.

Let's hope that the voters remember the next time you come crawling for their votes.

Irresponsible drivers who put people in hospital

From: Allan Ramsay, Radcliffe Moor Road, Radcliffe, near Manchester.

HOSPITALS are being targeted for being unfair on drivers. Some are taking more than 1.5m in parking charges and fines. And why shouldn't they? Irresponsible drivers cause more stress and death than enough. They put far too many people in hospital.

The cost to the NHS and the welfare system runs into billions. Hospitals helping to eradicate them are surely doing the nation a favour. Like cancer, the sooner such drivers are identified and treated, the healthier the nation will be.

Critics of hospital parking charges say drivers attending hospital are the last people who should be stressed out. What about cyclists? For every driver who is stressed by parking charges, a cyclist will be stressed a great deal more by a driver passing too close and too fast. And not just by the odd drivers, but by the vast majority.

People might cycle because they are poor, to reduce pollution or to stay fit and healthy (to reduce the odds of falling ill). And, who raises as much as anybody for cancer research. At least 6,000

cyclists will ride Manchester/Blackpool for Christie's cancer hospital. They are the ones who should be first in line for a fairer deal, not whinging drivers who can't play by the rules.

Someone who throws their weight around in school or the workplace is essentially referred to as a bully, if not a thug,

and there are plenty of initiatives to identify and deal with them. Drivers who throw their weight around are surely far worse – they put more people in hospital, they stress our over-stretched emergency services.

Let Holland – where children can cycle to school without fear, and their state of wellbeing is considered to be the highest in Europe – be our guide.