YP Letters: Grenfell Tower '“ did Ministers permit unsafe materials?

MANY of our homes are insulated with glass fibre or rock wool insulation. These two products are completely incombustible.

At some time, a change was made to recommended procedure to permit the use of flammable materials in the make-up of insulation panels. This may not have required a change in legislation but could have resulted from discussions in various Government departments.

Minutes of meetings will have been kept on file and passed to the relevant Ministers with a recommendation for approval.

At present, the Government appears to be hiding behind a vague promise to investigate the suppliers and contractors involved in refurbishment jobs in the hope of avoiding public attention arriving at the door of those Ministers who authorised the use of unsafe materials.

Differences do matter

From: Mr P Mulcaster, Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

WHILE I have every sympathy with the family of Jo Cox, I take exception to the fact that the values she stood for are being foisted upon young children who simply do not understand the philosophy they are based on. The children repeat the “better together” slogans they have been taught, but they do not know what they are saying.

When Jo’s mother was interviewed on the anniversary of her daughter’s murder, she made a statement to the effect that whatever we believe, the differences do not matter. With all respect to her, that is a very ignorant assertion. The inconvenient truth is that all the religions – including atheism – make mutually exclusive claims to be the truth.

Doctors are not to blame

From: Brian H Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

IT was Tony Blair who recklessly awarded GPs salaries of up to £250,000 back in 2006, thus encouraging many to opt subsequently for early retirement (‘Surgeries on the brink of collapse,’ says leading GP, The Yorkshire Post, June 29).

Who can blame the doctors? They work in an ongoing crisis of conscience and responsibility. They are at the mercy of unreasonable patients and some are reliably reported to have asked patients what they want: they can’t afford to take any risks for fear of litigation.

Your feature reports that a quarter of GP appointments are “avoidable”. A retired GP friend tells me that out of his large practice it was a hard core of patients who appeared routinely. A doctors’ surgery is not a place for lonely hearts and hypochondriacs.

On the other hand, while waiting for an ailing friend in a surgery, I saw a notice posting that there had been 31 missed appointments that week; not counting cancellations. It seems we get the GP service we deserve.

Airport lags behind rivals

From: Shaun Kavanagh, Leeds.

LEEDS Bradford Airport will never be a true international airport with such a Mickey Mouse approach to the needs of travellers, when only a short distance away is the efficient Manchester Airport with all its benefits like a rail link direct to the airport.

The privately-owned Leeds Bradford Airport charges for everything and will never be what it likes to call itself, an international airport. It is only international by virtue of destinations, and not by comparison to other airports.

Good reason to clear gutters

From: Eddie Banham, Dinnington, Rotherham.

RE the torrential rain. During the last year, I have not seen a road sweeper or gully cleaner in our village.

Will they never learn that care for their community is an all year round job and there was a good reason for gutters being swept and gullies being cleared regularly?

Preserve our wildflowers

From: GB Mallison, Seaton.

SURE there is a “tragedy of conservation” in connection with our monstrous loss of wildflower grassland but to leave the onus on local residents when “they see priceless gems threatened” is to lose touch with reality (The Yorkshire Post, June 28).

We have designated ‘Botany Road’ verges deep in the countryside but their abandonment is of no concern to the inhabitants of our so-called rural villages. Consequently surviving nectar and pollen species fade away while the focus is on prettifying residential areas with duck ponds and daffodils.

Every parish on the Wolds should have a marked and managed verge to support the last of our genuine wildflower heritage.

Bus pupils to rural schools

From: Heather Longbottom, Stirton. Skipton.

WHY, when there are so many overcrowded schools in towns, do they not reverse the process by bussing some children and their teachers to some of the smaller schools in villages threatened with closure?

Funding for the necessary broadband would follow and the buses could be fully utilised by getting country people into town.

Children, particularly in the older classes, would gain from a wider circle of friends and rural communities gain from a new lease of life.