YP Letters: Blame the bureaucrats for Windrush and not Amber Rudd

LIKE a number of Ministers, Amber Rudd couldn’t possibly have known every aspect of the Home Office’s activities and work. That doesn’t excuse her, and her predecessor Theresa May, over Windrush.

Until the Government becomes smaller,Ministers won’t be able to challenge civil servants as they should.

Local government acts very much in the same way. I know because, on countless occasions, we, the officers, only told the chairmen of committees what we wanted them to know.

It all made for a much easier life until, as in the case of Amber Rudd and the Home Office, the civil servants were found out.

From: DS Boyes, Upper Rodley Lane, Leeds.

I HAVE sympathy with Amber Rudd. The Windrush problem has been building up for decades, with multiple governments since 1945 and countless Home Secretaries. This latest debacle will undoubtedly be another step nearer No 10 Downing Street for Jeremy Corbyn.

High price of bodged work

From: Tony Morris, Lee Lane East, Horsforth, Leeds.

YOUR correspondent David Blundell is to be congratulated on his letter (The Yorkshire Post, April 28) on potholes, indicating a problem which is growing by the hour. Regrettably the subject is huge. In July 2010 a TV programme investigated the technique used by utility companies.

It found that half the work was, frankly, bodged in Scotland – and elsewhere.

Clearly the work is not being done properly and I suggest this is a relatively new phenomena, otherwise the high speed of deterioration would not occur. At the moment we are not getting value for our council tax.

One of the Royal lads?

From: Peter J Teal, Union Road, Thorne, Doncaster.

LOOKING forward to this month’s Royal wedding, I have always rated Prince Harry.

He comes over to me like “one of the lads” enjoying a drink in the local pub and probably playing pool, or darts and dominoes.

Not so with other Royals. Though Prince William has become more outgoing, he still comes across as having half a silver spoon in his mouth. Let us hope things alter later.

Mile not far enough away

From: Ron Farley, Camblesforth, nr Selby.

REGARDING “The Daily Mile” schools subscribing to get their pupils running a mile a day to encourage them to undertake a less sedentary lifestyle, as mentioned in Christine Baker’s recent letter.

Many, many years ago (1948-1958), I was a Royal Air Force physical training instructor and father of four children. I once suggested that all children should be made to run six miles a day – then, at the end of a week, they would be 42 miles away.

Just kidding, of course!

Undesirable city living

From: AJA Smith, Cowling, Keighley.

THE Northern Powerhouse Liveability Index placed Bradford amongst the least desirable places to live in the area. Does this study not go some way to dispel the belief of the liberal left that immigration economically and culturally enriches us all?

Brunel had right idea

From: David Parnham, Wellcroft Close, Doncaster.

I HAVE just read your interesting and informative article concerning the proposed “hyperloop” technology on display at the National Railway Museum in York, which works by utilising a vacuum inside a sealed tube. This is very reminiscent of Mr Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway. I sincerely hope that Mr Brunel receives due credit for this further development of his work!

Take your litter home

From: Jarvis Browning, Main Street, Fadmoor, York.

LITTER! We’re always told to bin it or take it home and this was passed onto the next generation, as before us. Either they don’t think or don’t care, not in my car, so out it goes. It’s done by those who live in the country and from elsewhere.

Please bin it and take your rubbish home.

No need to whisper

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

IF there is one thing that annoys me intensely, it is when presenters on wildlife films start whispering, as if to speak normally would disturb some animal. They forget that we are well aware that they are accompanied by other camera crews and their assistants who are far more likely to disturb animals than the presenter is.

Thanks for a great day

From: Ray Marshall, Holmdene Drive, Mirfield.

A LOVELY way to spend a Sunday at Temple Newsham. From 11am-4.30pm every half hour, 10 groups of different kinds of early music with a break for lunch. This was our third visit at least and it gets better. A super day out, thanks to all who make it so very good.