Unable to find a solution

REGARDING Frank Field's views on immigration, it is interesting to see how Labour divides itself to create its own opposition to promote itself as the party of all policies.

As a member of the Labour Party which is responsible for the state of the country, Frank Field is part of the problem; now he has the impudence to present himself as part of the solution.

In so far as one can tell from brief press reports, his views on how to reduce immigration are years too late.

For example, he has nothing to say about the high birth rate of immigrants who are already here, a rate which in the last six or so years has caused the overall birthrate to increase above the population replacement rate, to say nothing about the educational failings his party has created which make it necessary for the country to encourage the immigration of skilled workers, nothing about the wretched state of things here which is causing our own skilled workers to emigrate, and nothing about how money can be raised to pay for more expensive non-immigrant labour.

In any case, if ever the EU takes over fully, the problem will be beyond the power of Parliament to solve.

Beyond some panic reaction legislation, it is doubtful if Labour is capable of solving the difficult problems of immigration and an unsustainable population, impatient as its MPs are to surrender their responsibilities to the EU, when they will get their wages and expenses for rubber stamping.

JF Lambert, Mossley Hill

Amazing spectacle

I JUST do not understand some people. And a lot of them write to this Letters page.

You have complained all year about Capital of Culture being exclusive, about events being too expensive, impossible to get into, etc.

Then, when an event comes along that is truly like nothing the city has ever seen before, which costs nothing to see and which everyone can attend no matter who they are, where they come from or how old they are, you still moan.

I am talking, of course, about those people complaining about the La Machine event with the spider at the weekend.

I just do not know what the problem is.

This was an amazing spectacle, the sort of thing which has only been seen in London so far, and we had it here in Liverpool. We should be patting the Culture Company on the back for once, not complaining about having to wait, or things not happening exactly on time.

To the person who said it looked like a waltzer, what exactly were you expecting? This was fresh and exciting and it brought people together.

I met people on Sunday afternoon, who had come from as far away as London and even one lady from Glasgow who had brought her grandchildren down on the train to watch it.

It may have cost a lot, but it is something which people will talk about for years to come.

I can just imagine my own children telling their children in years to come: “One day, a 50ft spider came to Liverpool – no, really.”

Esther Watson, West Kirby

Emperor’s clothes

THEY say you can fool some of the people all the time and all of the people some of the time.

La Machine, a mobile crane with a fancy grab on the end, can be seen on any building site in the city.

The council could have done better with a Meccano set at a fraction of the cost, and had something left at the end in the box to show for it.

Talk about the Emperor's clothes.

Rob Wood, via email

Good cause

ALTHOUGH I was sad to see the Superlambananas leave our streets, I am glad they have raised so much money for charity.

It was also good to see the Culture chief, Phil Redmond, say that the National Museums Liverpool – and, therefore, the city – would benefit from his successful bid for “Mandy”.

Along with the giant spider that stalked our streets over the weekend, the Superlambananas have been a real highlight of the Culture Year and have made sure everyone has felt involved.

R Allen, Birkdale

Accident plea

I WAS driving along Market Street, in Hoylake, at about 11.30 on Tuesday, in the narrow “bottleneck” near the petrol station, when there was a loud bang and my offside wing mirror snapped backwards and a piece flew off.

It did not make me swerve and no-one was hurt, so hardly a police matter, but I stopped and so did all the surrounding traffic in both directions – except, that is, for the motorist who was driving the car in the opposite direction.

This was incredibly short-sighted as I was able to not only pick up the relevant piece from my mirror, which was lying in the road, but also the identical piece from his car.

Both pieces were not only identical in shape, but almost identical in colour and, incredibly, both in perfect condition.

As soon as I could stop and park, I refitted mine in a few seconds and my mirror is as good as new.

So, if the owner of the other piece would like to save money on a replacement, before the rain rusts the insides of their mirror, they can just email me on jimoneil@btinternet.com with the colour of the piece of plastic and the model of car and it can be reclaimed.

I've no problems with such a minor accident – it is the worst bit of road between Moreton and West Kirby, as anyone living in the area will know.

Jim O'Neil, via email