Tuesday's Letters: Supertram would make economic sense now

He proposes, instead, some form of unspecified Superbus, presumably diesel-powered, as part of a "holistic approach" to Leeds transport and apparently subsidised by city centre traffic congestion charges as the best way to dissuade drivers from using their cars.

Though I agree with him on the congestion charge – something that would, naturally, be most unpalatable to city centre car commuters – his attitudes to rapid transit modes such as the modern tramway are wildly displaced.

His Superbus proposals include bus lanes linking edge of city park and ride sites to the central area and a parking ticket including all day free access to public transport city wide.

The Supertram and trolley bus schemes would have comprised such park and ride sites and free transport for motorists using them on the city's most high volume traffic corridors.

Bus lanes exist already to varying degrees on many major routes in the city centre, with only limited degrees of success.

It seems to me that once again, so soon after the credit crunch, we have forgotten the Keynesian advocacy for states to spend their way out of recession. In the face of this "slasher coalition" which threatens to starve the recovery of the economy, unfashionably, I still contend that to go ahead with such a system as a revived Supertram scheme would make economic sense in terms of providing much needed local employment and of benefits for and investment in the region's future.

Time to end 'golden' state pensions

From Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

I AM really mad that as a pensioner we, my wife and I, like millions of others in the UK, have ploughed money into the State to get, to put it bluntly, an old age pension.

Over the many years, we have been married, we have employed small businesses to carry out work at our home.

These same little companies are penalised through being forced to put some of their small profits into employee national insurance and pension schemes. We only use those small firms because we are satisfied with their work.

But, we have no choice when it comes to the local and national government employees which we are bound to use, although dissatisfied with their produce.

Yet, our council tax, our income tax and all our devious other taxes are partially used to fund golden pensions for workers we never chose to provide us with services.

And probably would never do so because of the incompetence and many mistakes that have resulted in mind-boggling errors, which often result in them getting away with "murder".

No longer must we be burdened with paying for County Hall or government employee pensions.

Teachers, nurses and such like professions (except for the police who also seem to get super deals) should come under another pension band.

Cut out Defra and HSE

From: Lorna Young, Kirkby Avenue, Sheffield.

IF the Government wishes to make huge savings, may I suggest they firstly get rid, lock stock and barrel, of Defra and all its desk-bound bureaucrats whose sole purpose seems to be to make up ridiculous rules and regulations about something they know little about, and which merely serve to make the farmers' lives a misery. I'm sure David Cameron would have the undying support of every farmer in the land.

The second on my list to go would be the Health and Safety Executive, so that we can then all be allowed to use our own common sense – but thankfully they have already started on that one.

Imagine how much money would be saved if we could be rid of these two abominations.

Wartime childhood

From: Canon RA Marchant, The Paddock, York.

I AM sorry Doreen Lehr had such an unhappy wartime evacuation (Yorkshire Post, June 14). In the early wartime years, my parents lived at Flaxton, near York. At the outbreak in 1939, we had evacuees from Hull, but as nothing happened they all gradually drifted back home.

In 1940, we got evacuees from Middlesbrough. We got a class or two with their teachers. They hired the Methodist chapel classroom and their education continued. The children were older primary school age, and of course knew each other. They settled down and became part of the village for two or three years. One of my mother's boys kept in touch with her until he got married.

Mrs Lehr says that those who could afford to sent their children abroad. I was to go to my mother's cousin in Canada, but a ship with a lot of children was torpedoed and after that only 12 children were allowed on each ship. After a long wait and I had not got a place, mother gave up and I stayed in England.

Support for skirt ban

From: David H Rhodes, Keble Park North, Bishopthorpe, York.

DO I detect a distinctly anti-male context in Stephanie Smith's article (Yorkshire Post, June 16) when she pontificates on the rights of skirts over trousers for schoolgirl uniforms? I would have thought that the head, governors and staff at St Aidan's School, Harrogate, would have thought long and hard about this policy and will feel justified in the decision of placing a skirt ban for girl pupils under 15 years of age.

If an opinion poll was held for fathers/male guardians after an unaccounted visit to the school during school time, then I am sure there would be strong support for the school's decision.

I would envisage that the demure young women that left home that morning would be in some cases looking "more mature" by the afternoon.

The story of a 23-year-old female singer who was "surfed" at a concert and then complained she was groped deserves little sympathy. She was obviously naive and/or brain dead in the extreme and should be protected from herself. Male perverts are an objectionable part of society but putting on a free floorshow is hardly conducive to curbing their habit.

Voting system no longer represents views of electorate

From: Colin McNamee, Ella Street, Hull.

The First Past the Post System (FPTP) of voting has served this country well and if it were still working well, there would be no need to fix it. The system isn't working well. The recent General Election result, with exactly the same voting returns, could have resulted in a coalition government of Labour and the Liberal Democrats at the whim of the politicians not the electorate.

The electorate didn't vote for a coalition of either description and the hung parliament result is a happenchance of a voting system that no longer represents the democratic view of the electorate.

In part, this has come about through the activities of the three main parties in shedding principles and trying to occupy a very similar centralist political position. Power is not the same as democracy.

Democracy in the UK, as opposed to power, is not being well served by these three traditional parties and to ensure that both the views

and the votes of the electorate are properly and fairly represented a reform of the system must now involve a system based on some form of proportional representation (PR).

It has been announced by the ConDem coalition that the electorate will be offered a referendum in 2011 on the UK electoral voting system between FPTP and the Alternative Vote (AV), the latter being a limited form of PR.

AV is very much like First Past The Post. It is used to elect representatives for single-member constituencies, but rather than simply marking a solitary X on the ballot paper, the voter has the alternative or choice to also rank the candidates on offer by putting a "1" by their first preference, a "2" by their second preference and so on. If a candidate receives a majority of first-preference votes (more people put them as number one than all the rest combined), then they are elected. If no candidate gains a majority on first preferences, then the second-preference votes of the candidate who finished last on the first count are redistributed. This process is repeated until someone gets over 50 per cent.

A disadvantage of AV is that it is possible for a second choice candidate, the first time around, to finish up being elected. To a limited extent, AV negates tactical voting.

Transformation plan set to fail

From: Mrs Marianne Downing, Lowfield Road, Wheatley Hill, Doncaster.

MANY years ago, Waterdale was a busy, thriving part of Doncaster. Over many years it has been allowed to disintegrate, especially during the reign of our first elected mayor.

This 300m Civic and Cultural Quarter (CCQ) will do nothing to "transform this part of Doncaster town centre". It is not and never has been part of the town centre which unfortunately, is now full of streets with pubs, takeaways, clubs and empty and boarded-up shops.

Seeing the artist's impression of the new Doncaster HQ means more empty buildings and more "for sale" notices.

It may be a good area for business ventures but not for those citizens who wouldjust like a nice, clean market town.

As a genuine Doncastrian, this town has nothing for me to be proud of.

Lunacy of asking public on cuts

From: Peter J Brown, Connaught Road, Middlesbrough.

I LIKE some of the policies of the new coalition Government, while other policies frighten me.

It seems to me to be sheer lunacy to invite e-mails from the public suggesting cuts in Government departments and Government expenditure. People are likely to suggest that services that they do not themselves use should be cut, or abolished altogether.

People who own their own transport will argue for cuts in subsidies for public transport. People who have no desire for self-improvement and education will argue for cuts in aid given to public libraries and educational institutions.

People will argue for their own self-interest and against the interest of people and groups who they do not like, or disapprove of.

Parishes in cash struggle too

From: Mrs Shirley Auty, Larkhill Avenue, Cleckheaton.

ALTHOUGH I appreciate that money needs to be spent to save Wakefield Cathedral, but much of it is cosmetic, I could not believe that Dean Jonathan Greener has the nerve to say he hopes "other parishes" will join the campaign to provide the shortfall from the many grants.

So many local parishes are finding it difficult to pay their own way so how can they help financially as the dean seems to expect?

Go round the parishes, Dean, and find out.