Young voters lacking life experience

SARAH Champion is way  out of line in her article  regarding giving the vote to 16-year-olds (The Yorkshire Post, May 8).

It is just another effort by a political party to gain votes, as was the lowering of the voting age to 18 years.

Education is in such a bad way, due to Labour’s push for comprehensive schools, that 16-year-olds are leaving  school without the ability to match the three Rs that I,  and my parents, had when we left school.

The one big factor that 18-year-olds, and especially 16-year-olds, do not have is a good education in the University of Life.

That education is not gained by passing an exam, but by experiencing it over several years.

From: Hugh Rogers, Messingham Road, Ashby.

IT’S blindingly obvious to  me why the Labour Party is  so keen to give 16-year-old children the vote – Ed Miliband and his merry men clearly believe that such young voters, having loads of ideals but no clear memory of the last time socialists were in charge, are more likely to vote Labour next time.

The way things are going,  my three-year-old granddaughter will soon be eligible to vote – her favourite teddy bear already is, I think, but he’s a Lib Dem  so I don’t suppose it’ll make  very much difference  whether he votes or not.

Patronising tone on faith

From: Brian H Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

IT is disingenuous of Chris Schorah to claim that he doesn’t understand John Watson’s letter of May 1 (The Yorkshire Post, May 7). He must be the only reader who failed to grasp that many believers who no longer go to church now describe themselves as “non-practising”.

It is also arrogant to patronise “those who don’t know Jesus” by “telling them about Him”. By contrast I find Mr Watson’s thoughts not only more humble but much more lucid than the language of evangelists.

From: Frank McManus, Longfield Road, Todmorden.

In the wake of the tragic murder of the adored teacher Ann Maguire, the Corpus Christi College community can be assured that they, and especially Ann and her family, have the prayers not only of Roman Catholic churches but also of sister churches and “free range Christians” in and beyond West Yorkshire. They were offered, for example, at Todmorden Parish Church.

First Bus’s many failings

From: Angela Hulme, Abbeydale Mount, Kirstall, Leeds.

FIRST Bus runs its buses ‘like clockwork’ according to its website. So why is it that on the evening of Thursday, May 8, I had to wait 50 minutes for a number 50 bus from Burley Road to Hawkswood Avenue in Leeds?

During that time three number 50 buses failed to turn up. The first at 18.49 was cancelled, the second at 19.08 never turned up and the 19.25 likewise. When a bus finally turned up at 19.35, it was packed, shabby and dirty.

At least that part of the 50 bus service was true to form. I take the number 50 First Bus service every day to get to work in the city centre and often at weekends. Unfortunately, it is usual for this service to be late, over-crowded and dirty.

No doubt First Bus will be able to provide a whole host of reasons for why those particular buses were late on Thursday evening. After all, they are an international company who “run more buses in than anyone else in the UK” and who can run afford to run a public relations department. What does it take for a private bus operator to have its charter to run the number 50 service removed? Because it seems to me that this is the only threat that arrogant multi-national transport providers understand.

Pilot who flew to a city’s aid

From: David Britton, Denford Avenue, Lytham St Annes.

REFERRING to the letter from your correspondent H Marjorie Gill (The Yorkshire Post, May 7), due to a change in tactics by the Luftwaffe it was decided to bomb York and the RAF, in readiness to defend Hull, Leeds and Sheffield, was caught on the back foot.

However, RAF Elvington was aware York was in trouble. A French Air Force officer, Yves Mahé, took off in his Hurricane, the only aircraft which was operational. He shot two bombers out of the sky and damaged a third. The Luftwaffe legged it for the coast.

If I remember correctly, the officer was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Lord Mayor awarded the Frenchman the freedom of the city.

Not your lucky day

From: Dick Appleyard, Saxilby, Near Lincoln.

RE your news item on page five (The Yorkshire Post, May 5) headed “Britons put their trust  in superstitions”, good luck and bad luck happens to us at any time either naturally, or by a fault of our own or by someone else. I am not afraid of the number 13 or Friday 13 of the month and I don’t find that number seven is my lucky number either.