We need to be put up to speed

THIS concept (instantly endorsed by the Greens) of the change to the speed limit is like all their enthusiasms, lacking in evidence (Yorkshire Post, January 7).

I should like to see figures showing the output of vehicles travelling at the present 
70mph on the M1 through South Yorkshire, and for those which would be travelling at 60.

And while we are at it, 
figures for city centre vehicles, crawling in second or third 
gear from one set of lights to another.

I think we might then see 
where pollution is really occurring.

Who will pay for slavery?

From: Marjorie Gill, Clarence Drive, Menston.

SO, Caribbean islanders want Britain to compensate them for their forebears’ slavery!

There are many aspects of slavery which people conveniently forget.

In Biblical times, slaves were the unpaid underclass.

Slaves were often the spoils of war when the losing tribe became the slaves of the winners.

It is possible that if we could go back far enough most of us would have slaves in our ancestry, so the question is who should pay compensation to whom?

There are even forms of slavery in today’s news and girls lured from their homes in poverty-stricken countries to come here to act as prostitutes. These are the terrible times we live in.

Retail of woe

From: David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.

I HAVE lived in or near 
Acomb, York, for most of my 
67 years and in all that time, 
never have I seen the Acomb shops area looking as bad as it now does.

What was once a clean, 
thriving, varied area of quality shops, is now run-down, 
tatty, with uneven footpaths, numerous closed down businesses, amongst ankle deep litter, dog dirt and mess.

Why has this happened? Why is the area mainly taken up with charity, betting and optical shops? How can all this decline be halted and reversed?