Wednesday's Letters: My party has failed the poor and vulnerable

During the last election campaign, I was most optimistic that the Lib Dems formed the best way forward and genuinely provided a fresh impetus into British politics. However, since the coalition has been formed

with the Conservatives, I have become increasingly alarmed at the manner in which they have acquiesced.

However, after last week's Budget, I decided I can no longer be part of a party that has put forward with the Conservatives a Budget that is regressive and, furthermore, does not in my opinion provide the best possible opportunity for Britain's economy to recover and improve in the future.

I have worked for a number of years as a paid Citizens' Advice Bureau adviser and have experience of meeting many people who receive welfare benefits. It is the squeezing of welfare that will prove to be disastrous in future years – in my experience, the jobless are not lazy (and the vast majority would be delighted if they could find jobs). To reduce their benefits in real terms will create much further poverty. It is simply farcical to suggest that by squeezing welfare and disability benefits, people will suddenly go back to "non-existent" jobs, especially when there are likely to be so many more unemployed due to forthcoming cuts.

Furthermore, the proposed restrictions on housing benefit will create, in my opinion, a spiral of debt, evictions and homelessness at great cost to local authorities but at an even greater cost to society.

Children will be the ones that suffer most from these restrictions. And the idea that a single parent must look for a job when their child reaches school age simply overlooks the fact that many parents bring their children up best within the home.

There are so many alternatives that could have been taken – child

benefit could have been means tested as could the winter fuel

allowance (and even free bus passes). Furthermore, the speed and brutality of cuts and tax rises (which will disproportionately affect the poorest in society) was quite avoidable.

It is clear that the decisions taken by George Osborne are

ideologically driven and, sadly, the Lib Dem leadership has sat by and coalesced.

I hope the Labour Party can rebuild itself and learn from its mistakes –and present a credible opposition with firm leadership, fresh ideas and ethics that support the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

From: Richard Bridge, Market Place, Snaith, East Yorkshire.

Financial way forward at Forgemasters

From: Andrew Cook, chairman, William Cook Holdings, Sheffield.

I WOULD like to offer some comfort to Graham Honeyman over his concern

at having to give up equity as the price of obtaining private sector financial support for the Forgemasters expansion scheme (Yorkshire

Post, June 24).

In 1997, I raised a 100m bank debt and private equity package to

defeat a hostile takeover bid for William Cook. In the process, my equity stake was diluted down to eight per cent.

Like Forgemasters, William Cook is a substantial steel manufacturing and engineering group, and over the next seven years I worked hard to deliver the business plan against which I raised the original 100m package.

In 2004, I raised another 60m bank debt to re-finance my original borrowings and buy back the equity I had previously surrendered.

I now own 100 per cent of the company and it has no debt.

Equity dilution is the price an owner has to pay when he raises new finance beyond the debt capacity of the business. The dilution does not have to be permanent.

I would be happy to help Dr Honeyman raise his funding package should he wish.

Give priority to industry

From: Don Alexander, Knab Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

ROTHERHAM MP Denis MacShane is right. Nick Clegg is no longer welcome in Sheffield with his "yaa-boo" politics. He says "the cupboard is bare" (Yorkshire Post, June 19), but it was bare when politicians conjured billions out of thin air to save the banks (banks that would only loan to Forgemasters at exorbitant interest).

Millions have been granted to Japanese and US car firms yet nothing loaned to a British firm owned by its management and workers. Clegg doesn't want nuclear power, but hundreds of thousands of windmills set in British seas and countryside, backed up by electricity cabled from French nuclear power stations.

Clegg should hang his head in shame. He has no idea of the deep pride in our special steels and allied trades, felt by Sheffield and

Rotherham people.

Now firms such as Forgemasters, Independent Forge & Alloy, Swann-Morton and Gripple – all locally - owned winners – give us some pride back.

British firms like these should have priority even over replacement hospitals and schools and certainly over "ring-fenced" frivolities such as the billions in overseas aid that ends up in the pockets of despots and scoundrels. Industry should have priority because the wealth it creates pays for all this.

No return for bloodsport

From: Steve Taylor, Head of Campaigns & Communications, League Against Cruel Sports.

JA Smith responded through your letters page (Yorkshire Post, June 15) to the utterly ridiculous argument that the recent terrible fox attack on twin girls in London is a reason to bring back hunting.

YouGov polling for the League Against Cruel Sports has found no increase in anti-fox sentiment following these attacks. Thankfully, it seems that most people realise that this incredibly rare incident would never have been prevented by fox hunting. After all, Hackney has not been a hunting borough since the time of Henry VIII.

The sensible response to the problem of urban foxes is to examine how we interact with the wildlife that surrounds us. For example, the local authorities most successful at reducing the problem of foxes ripping open bin bags are those that have invested in wheelie bins that are almost impenetrable to foxes.

The hunting of foxes with dogs is a barbaric bloodsport that the vast majority of the public want to see remain consigned to history along with bear baiting and dog fighting.

Inspirational midwife

From: Alan Richardson, Dundee.

IN your report on the killing of my sister Ann Geddes (Yorkshire Post, June 18) we, the family, feel her huge contribution to maternity services in Leeds, marked by a memorial service and tree planting in April at the Chapel of St James Hospital, has been lost. Numerous tributes were paid by colleagues to what an inspirational midwife she was. She led with intellect, integrity and compassion and facilitated a high quality of care and made a real difference to the communities of Leeds.

Tories profit from being generous to the bankers

From: Duncan Anderson, Mill Lane, East Halton, North Lincolnshire.

A couple of years ago, the Government, on behalf of the people, bailed out the banking system to the tune of several billions of pounds. I know some people will blame Gordon Brown, but the banks and financial institutions did lobby for light regulation and did take full advantage of it. So they are at least partly culpable.

We're now told, by the same institutions, that because we helped them out, the country's economy is in a complete mess. And that if the poor don't tighten their belts more than the rich – a greater proportion of a poor person's income is spent on VAT registered goods than a rich person's – they'll say nasty and mean things about our economy – kettle, pot, black – who are they to make judgments?

If the bank and financial institutions paid back half of what they owe us, we wouldn't have to tighten our belts so tightly. But instead taxation for banks and financial institutions has reduced from 28 per cent to 24 per cent, so they'll be making even bigger profits. And therefore banks and financiers will be making even bigger bonuses. Which means they'll have even more to give to the Tory Party.

All of this strongly suggests that their financial backers, the bankers and financiers, determine Tory Party policy. So the question is, is

this fair?

The good side of Scarborough

From: Liz Mullin, Mitford Close, Hunmanby,

I CANNOT believe Teri Brown (Yorkshire Post, June 23) lives in the same place I do.

I have lived in Scarborough for more than 30 years, having come from the West Riding. I now live just outside the town in Hunmanby but come in at least once a week and sometimes more.

Scarborough has its faults and problems like most towns, but I don't recognise the place from her description.

I am not dodging drunks, druggies, badly-behaved children or tramps nor

falling over hypodermic needles. There is a problem with dog fouling,

as there is everywhere.

Scarborough Council and other agencies do their best but if you are constantly complaining to them about everything you see as a problem, they stop listening. If Scarborough is so bad, why is it so popular?

Europe with egg on its face

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

IF we are to ban six or a dozen eggs in a box, are we also to ban

frogs' legs on the menus, or maybe illegally caught fish by the French and Spanish?

This means that anything brought in from la Manche must go through intensive investigations, just like those the Australian customs impose on all foreign seeds, fruit, vegetables and even meat.

The Government must take a strong defence of UK traditions on this

issue and tell Brussels to look to itself before dictating on our

system.

These days, a pound goes further that a euro. I fancy the price of a pound of potatoes here to what is charged across the water in France.

Long years of working

From: Margaret Claxton Arden Court, Northallerton.

ONE point I have never seen mentioned regarding the retirement age is the age people were when they started work.

In my youth, between the World Wars, most people left school at 14. You were lucky if you stayed on until 16, and more so if you went to college.

Young people nowadays automatically stay to 16, but many much longer and they don't put in the hours people used to.