Tuesday’s letters: We should back those police who administer rough justice

HOW I respect Sir Norman Bettison’s plea for the public to support police action during the dreadful riots we have witnessed (Yorkshire Post, August 12).

For goodness sake, how many of us would have the courage to face these callous and vicious mobs with nothing more than a shield (if we are lucky) and a baton? And yet we feel able to condemn an occasional (yes really) policeman who, in his fear for his own safety and performing his duty to protect innocent people and property, steps over the mark and is too “rough”.

I truly believe that the majority of the population feels, as I do, that we have been too hampered and too soft for far too long in dealing with the increasing break-down of society.

Let’s first establish law and order by whatever strong means are necessary and then perhaps we can address the cause of the breakdown of morality and responsibility in our country.

I don’t believe we can approach the problem from the other way round – it’s too little, too late. Please allow the police to protect us. After all, policemen are individuals too and surely have rights?

Oh yes, and please let Sir Norman know that some of us do wholeheartedly support our police force and thank them for their bravery.

FROM: BRIAN LEWIS, LINDEN TERRACE, PONTEFRACT.

I AM not sure why the Riot Act was repealed for on the surface it was a useful piece of legislation.

It was well known. My father used to say ‘Treat your mom with that sort of disrespect again and I’ll read the Riot Act’. It was effective and practical.

Once read, anyone caught rioting was charged with a higher level of crime and could expect a more severe sentence.

The decision to read it was in the hands of a local person not in the hands of the police. A Justice of the Peace or the Mayor had to read it. It was short and to the listener mumbo-jumbo. It gave the legal authority for reading it, an Act of the reign of George in 1715 and was 51 words long.

It was remarkably effective. From what I recall only two people died in the second half of the 19th century and not too many in the previous 50 years. A couple of men were shot in the mining village of Featherstone in September 1893. That was a real mistake. Generally people dispersed.

With a mobile and a bike you could get the magistrate there quickly, loud speakers could convey the message and water cannons could do the rest. It would also give the television crews a running story: “It looks as if the Riot Act is about to be read.”

FROM: TREVOR H ANSON, LITTLE HECK.

DAVID Cameron refers to a sick society but does not appreciate that it is cultivated by a relentlessly deteriorating sick media of cheap TV and video games.

Contrary to the argument that the popular media has no ill effect upon young people, we are all easily brainwashed in our youth without knowing it. Indeed, I myself was so influenced by the Saturday morning matinees at the flicks where afterwards we put on our gun belts and headed for the park to re-enact a shoot out with those nasty murderous Indians, but the blood was all black and white.

Theresa May will never understand what it is like to be a young male born with natural aggressiveness, satisfied healthily by self-endeavour in competitive sport or by re-enacting TV violence on the streets in the safety of a gang out for combative thrills, and proof of bravery.

From: Colin Smith, Beech View, Ferrybridge.

OF course rioters should face jail sentences (Yorkshire Post, August 11). Further, isn’t it time that hard labour was reintroduced?

If a person is sentenced, then they should face hardship for the crimes committed.

It is time to put the do-gooders and PC people into the dustbin and that our country was returned to something like its former self.

There is no-one who speaks for the man in the street. The politicians just do not know how the population feel about things. Straight from school to university or public school and into politics. They have absolutely no idea how we live today.

FROM: JOHN HALKON, HERMITAGE COURT, RICHMOND

I HAVE viewed, with many others, the shameful events which have spread across a number of major British cities, and have been dismayed at times by the apparent lack of action by the police.

Much has been said regarding the use of rubber bullets and water cannon (Sir Norman Bettison, Yorkshire Post, August 12), but their use must be limited as events can be fast moving, and there is a need to arrest and bring to justice these criminals.

While CCTV is of considerable value in identification I wonder whether the use of a coloured dye spray would be appropriate. This could be applied by a number of means, ie backpack spray guns, adapted water cannon etc., and would immediately identify those who should not be there in that situation. The dye would cover exposed skin and clothing and could be made to last for five to seven days before removal via washing, allowing time for police action. Any spread onto surrounding surfaces could be removed over the same timescale.

TIME TO BRING BACK THE BIRCH AND HANGING

FROM: JACK BROWN, LAMB LANE, MONK BRETTON, BARNSLEY

BECAUSE of convictions of the innocent, some of us campaigned for abolition of capital punishment (Yorkshire Post, August 8). A few of us now realise that the crimes of some psychopaths are so horrific that they merit death. Obviously, we have given more thought to the problem than most unaffected people.

Parliament should not be considering categories because there will be grey areas within categories and we will be back to the Procrustean bed which led to abolition.

Neither, I doubt, would any of us vote for a return to capital punishment if it meant returning absolute power to judges and lethal injection which is as barbaric as hanging.

If a campaign to restore the death penalty is to be successful, it must ensure that the killer is guilty beyond a shadow of a shadow of doubt, the crime is so base that the ultimate penalty is demanded and the method is as painless as scientifically possible.

From: Jim Beck, Lindrick Grove, Tickhill, Doncaster.

AS Timothy Kirkhope implies (Yorkshire Post, August 8), in the event of Parliament debating the death penalty, there will not be any easy answers. However, there is one less drastic means of partly redressing the balance between the rights of the criminal and his victim that is at present firmly in favour of the criminal.

It is intolerable that the teenage thug who mugs a granny of her pension and leaves her injured on the ground should get away with an Asbo or a suspended prison sentence.

The criminal’s “human rights” should be rescinded when he usurps those of his victim and corporal punishment re-introduced immediately; the birch is the only deterrent that these people fear.

AM I JUST OLD AND CYNICAL?

FROM: THOMAS JEFFERSON, ALEXANDRA COURT, BRIDLINGTON.

IS it only me who wants our politicians to be strong enough to give us a referendum about exiting Europe?

Is it only me who is beginning to lose all confidence in our political masters who seem unable to set a good example to us and are completely out of touch with reality?

Is it only me who feels there is a lack of respect and discipline in this country and that discipline and respect should begin at home and continue at school?

Is it only me who thinks the recession is just an excuse for supermarkets and petrol companies to put up prices dramatically?

Is it only me who thinks there is something wrong when even a mediocre footballer earns more than the PM?

Is it only me who gets fed up of seeing our streets littered with rubbish?

Is it only me who thinks prison sentences are too light and that sentences should be served in full and that life in prison is too easy?

Is it only me or am I getting old and cynical?

Well, is it only me?

HISTORY AND PROSPERITY

FROM: ROGER RANSON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ECONOMY AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, CITY OF YORK COUNCIL.

FURTHER to the article regarding the economic well-being of York (Yorkshire Post, August 10), I would like to reassure readers that the city provides a unique and dynamic environment in which business can and do flourish.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the country, independent evidence supports York’s claim to have the most buoyant economy in the North and the city continues to attract major investment from national and international organisations. We recognise that the economic future of the city is tied to its ability to support existing businesses and attract new investment to York.

Our challenge is to rebalance the economy by reducing the city’s dependence on public sector employment and providing new opportunities for the private sector. There is clear evidence this challenge is being met. York is a special place to live and work and a balance needs to be struck between enhancing its prosperity while safeguarding its rich historic environment. The council is fully committed to achieving this.

HEATH LIED TO US OVER EUROPEAN REFERENDUM

FROM: ARTHUR QUARMBY, HOLME, HOLMFIRTH.

THOSE opposed to a referendum on our membership of the EU say that the British people gave an unequivocal answer to that question in 1975.

Well I was there in 1975 and I remember the absolute guarantees which the then Prime Minister Edward Heath gave to the British people.

They went along the lines of “It is no more than a simple trading arrangement” and “No loss of sovereignty is possible”.

I believe that Heath lied, and knew that he lied in deliberately leading the British people into this trap, and wonder why politicians are so afraid of allowing the people to make their own decisions.

What is the basis for their belief that they know what is best for us, when all the evidence points in the opposite direction?

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

SO we have the statement from Laurence Mann, the Prime Minister’s political private secretary, that David Cameron has ruled out a referendum on EU membership.

Shouldn’t something of this magnitude have come from the organ grinder?

With all the lies, waffle and fudge that come from all political parties, isn’t it time for clear, simple honesty to be offered to the British public?

May I suggest that the predominantly childish banter that proclaims itself as Prime Minister’s Question Time be replaced by a government statement time. For the half hour a week the Prime Minister could lay out the Government’s future aims and ambitions, both at home and abroad, their reasoning and what will be needed to implement these policies.

These statements will be useful to both us Britons and the European Union when we will all know what is acceptable or unacceptable to this country.

We can then be governed openly and honestly without the deceit and subterfuge as practised by other EU member states.