Wednesday's Letters: Don't blame the 1960s generation for a failure of ethics

I WOULD like to write in defence of our 1960s "baby boomer" generation after the letters of Roger Crossley and Kendal Wilson (Yorkshire Post, November 28).

Mr Crossley refers to the alleged damage brought about by left wing "trendy" ideas of the 1960s. Mr Wilson refers to unrealistic expectations based on property.

My recollection is that there was an attempt by Marxist subversive elements to undermine industry. However, although they may have contributed to Britain's industrial decline, they certainly did not succeed in bringing industry crashing down – that was a phenomenon of the 1980s, when the government withdrew financial support from our great engineering industries, and chose to rely on North Sea oil revenues to pay benefits and keep the country going.

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Similarly, our Sixties generation was not as materialistic as nowadays. The Hippy movement, for example, was in essence a rebellion against materialist values.

The Sixties were by no means perfect but if one wants to find the causes of our current difficulties, one has to examine what happened before and after the 1960s. I believe it is mainly a matter of ethics.

Before the 1960s, behaviour was heavily influenced by religion, our cultural heritage (particularly Greek and Roman classics which were taught at all grammar schools) and by political philosophies such as Marxism. All of these taught us about our duties to society and our country and the importance of caring and putting the common good above our own personal interests.

By the Sixties, the Church was in decline and the study of Classics had begun to go out of fashion. However, left-wing philosophies did seem to

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offer a strong set of caring values which were independent of religion, and this, I think, is why so many of us were attracted to them.

Some time after the sixties, the Communist empires collapsed. This completely destroyed the credibility of left-wing philosophy. So now, with the Church bereft of worshippers, with the study of Classics marginalised, all that is left is a culture of aggressive individualism which encourages us to always put our own interests first.

It was this individualist culture (not the free-thinking of the Sixties) which failed our heavy engineering industry when it most needed government support; which encouraged our bankers to act irresponsibly when lending money on property, and which persuaded politicians to claim extortionate expenses, in the mistaken belief that there was nothing ethically wrong in claiming the maximum allowed by law.

From: Paul Andrews, Great Habton, York.

Pull the plug on Europe, Mr Cameron

From: David Pickering, Gloucester Road, Stonegravels, Chesterfield.

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OH David Cameron, what are you doing, shelling out billions to the Irish, increasing our contributions to the European State by another 4.5 per cent, which means every 1 per cent rise will cost us 100m, added to the 45m we are already paying per day. Where is all the money coming from and, more importantly, where is it being spent?

The coalition Government inherited a record deficit and now, with Government cuts we are all going to suffer, with thousands losing their jobs.

We are mixed up in a totally corrupt institution, namely the EU, and recent revelations reveal cheating by the Greek farmers to the tune of 747m, falsely claiming for extra pasture land, and sheep being counted twice by Italian farmers to meet minimum requirements for EU payouts. Currently, 17,471 retired Eurocrats receive an average pension of 54,385 each per year. This is when people in this country will be taking cuts on their pensions, or having to work longer before receiving them.

Come on Dave, let this be your legacy to the British people, and pull the plug on this corrupt organisation, jump ship and cut us free.

From: Arthur Marson, Mountjoy Road, Huddersfield.

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IT would seem like a case of "the blind leading the blind", when the EU, which has gulled its members into allowing it to operate for 15 years with budgets not audited, can arrange to bail out another spendthrift member with money that most of them do not have.

The majority of the members who represent us in this organisation will retire on silly pensions, beyond their wildest dreams of avarice. When will the outstanding budgets audited? Somehow there must be a means of bringing this about.

Standards in schools

From: JW Slack, Swinton Hill Road, Dinnington, Sheffield.

MICHAEL GOVE is genuine in his concern over standards in schools and the standard of teaching (Yorkshire Post, November 25) but all discussion on education these days seems not to mention the children themselves, the quality of parents, and the fact that in the time of teacher shortages the standards of entry to the profession were reduced by politicians.

In 1974, Sir Allan Bullock published a report on language in schools and the Cockroft report on mathematics appeared some years later, both of which studied the subjects in depth and emphasised that the skills inherent in these areas were essential to unlock knowledge in every subject on the curriculum – hence the need for every teacher to be competent in areas of language and mathematics relevant to their subject. The Bullock report made recommendations for every aspect of language development including teacher training and television viewing.

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It concluded that "Language competence grows incrementally, through an interaction of experience, talk, reading and writing, and the best teaching deliberately influences the nature and quality of the growth." Also, "There should be positive steps to develop the language ability of children in the pre-school and nursery and infant years."

Some 36 years later, Michael Gove is still seeking the key to the door. "The quality of language – parents should be helped to understand the process of language development in their children and to play their part in it" – implies time given to children not only to learn the letter but the sounds they represent – consonants, vowels etc. and to sound them correctly in a context in which the word involved is understood.

I am afraid some schools are struggling to turn round depths of instability, inadequacy and irresponsibility and lack of parental ability to support. In the same areas, other public servants, social workers, nurses and police, will be criticised also for not dealing with the situations adequately. These children need all the trained adult assistance they can get – and it costs!

Response to accident

From: PC Gareth Jones, Ripon Police Station.

I wish to correct the comments made by Mr Legard in his letter (Yorkshire Post, November 18). I am the Safer Communities Officer for Ripon Rural and was dispatched to a collision on the River Ure bridge just out of Masham. I am sure this is the collision referred to. The report received by the police was that a car had gone through the bridge wall and landed in the river with the driver trapped inside.

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As you will imagine, this type of incident requires a full call out of police, fire and ambulance. I was the first officer at the scene and thankfully was able to update that the car was not in fact in the river but was on the bank and on its wheels. The driver was seriously injured. A roads policing officer was close behind me along with a sergeant from the Roads Policing unit, who had been dispatched because of the seriousness of the incident. Shortly after, colleagues from the Fire and Rescue Service and Ambulance Service arrived and only through the co-operation of all these services was the casualty removed from her car (the roof had to be removed).

All these emergency service vehicles were parked at the roadside whilst the casualty was extracted. I do not apologise for the number of vehicles at the scene as they were needed to either investigate the collision, extract the woman from her vehicle, to treat her and take her to hospital. I hope Mr Legard never finds himself in the same situation – if he was, I am sure he would think differently about the allocation of available resources.

What market shoppers want

From: Gerald Hodgson, Spennithorne, Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

The article "Market forces mean traders must adapt" (Yorkshire Post, November 26) prompts me to offer a suggestion. When shopping in a supermarket, you receive a detailed print-out telling you what you have paid for each item. This is useful as a check on prices and a reassurance that you have been charged the right total.

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My experience of buying in open air markets is that this facility is not provided and I think that many people would be happier if they had this reasurance. The technology is available at modest cost and I think it would be valuable in eliminating a disadvantage of dealing with market traders.

Sessions will boost science

From: Alec Denton, Oxford Avenue, Guiseley, Leeds.

CONGRATULATIONS to BASF for bringing their innovative Kids Lab to Bradford, (Yorkshire Post, November 27). These sessions represent a real boost for science education in the city and will hopefully help Bradford schools avoid the national decline in science. The enthusiastic faces of the youngsters said it all. Well done to BASF, their co-ordinator Joanne Love and the enthusiastic laboratory staff who volunteer their services and thank you for publicising their efforts.

Open secrets

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington.

All the e-mails revealing what goes on between Governments (Yorkshire Post, November 28) just shows what we, the older generation in the UK, have suspected since the beginning of World War Two, that the Yanks only look after their own.

New chapter

From: B Murray, Halifax Road, Sheffield.

IN connection with Mr Hill's letter (Yorkshire Post, November 24) concerning libraries, people could pay a small amount to borrow a book and perhaps donate books or leave them in a will. These funds could be used to pay the staff and the service. Perhaps providing refreshments could also generate more income.