Letters to the Editor - August 23rd

Aug 23 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

The answers are obvious

ALMOST every day, we read in the papers about how the behaviour of many young people is a cause of concern.

At the most serious, this touches on the spate of shootings and stabbings which have blighted Britain’s towns and cities, but our tolerance of general yobbish behaviour is wearing very thin as well.

For years, there has been an inconclusive debate about the effect of violent TV programmes and electronic games on the minds of young people.

But there can be no real doubt that this concentration on violence is bad. It is extraordinary that parents are unwilling to allow their children to go out alone because of exaggerated fears that paedophiles and muggers are lurking everywhere and yet are seemingly happy to let them watch an undiluted flow of violence on their screens – in which no respect is shown at all for the normal human feelings.

Your paper, thankfully, often shows photographs reflecting the past. Of course, life wasn’t perfect then. It never has been. For many, life was hard and short.

Despite all this, though, children did appear to be generally happier than they are today, despite there being no electronic gadgets.

The experts are always looking for complicated reasons for the decline in morals and behaviour, setting up committees to examine the social implications and so on and so on.

But sometimes the answers to our problems are more obvious.

P Simons (Mrs), Hoylake

Impossible demand

AS IF parents don’t already get blamed for all of society’s ills, now we have David Cameron harking on about how family support is the key to tackling yobs, but when was the last time he had five kids to look after, and a full-time job to hold down with no help from anyone else?

The same goes for Mr Peter Fahy. I feel a great deal of responsibility for making sure my oldest sons (age 16 and 13) do not engage in under-age drinking or anti-social behaviour, but I can’t keep my eye on them 24/7.

And before you start I am not some waster single mother with all my children by different fathers. My husband passed away from throat cancer six years ago, leaving me on my own to bring up my family.

Perhaps Mr Cameron and others would prefer it if I quit my job and went back onto benefits. At least then I could keep a constant eye on the “anarchy” that is youth today.

Name and Address provided

Cut car use

IT IS unfortunate that the Daily Post seems to be speaking on behalf of the British Drivers & Tunnel Users Associations, whose aim is free motoring and parking for all. For 30 years, the cost of motoring has been falling in real terms and has fallen by 7% in the last 10 years while the cost of public transport, particularly in the 10 years of this government, has gone up massively.

The only way forward is to redress this balance and bring the cost of motoring to previous levels. To achieve this, a congestion charge should be in addition to fuel duty and a charge should also be imposed on free workplace parking. I would also like to see road tax reduced to a nominal sum and the cost added to petrol because it is unfair to low-mileage motorists and is evaded by those driving around with no insurance.

To encourage people to leave their car at home and travel to work by bus, bus lanes must be given priority and must be effectively policed to stop them being abused by motorists. Also, to make town centre shopping more attractive, there should be a charge on car parking at out-of- town shopping centres.

This government pontificates on reducing CO² emissions, but caves in to the road lobby when anything is suggested to curb the increase in car use. I suggest transport politicians and officials pay a visit to Amsterdam where the cyclists, trams and pedestrians are given priority over the cars.

JM Berry, Aughton

Road chaos

IF A congestion charge was introduced at some future point in Liverpool, would it be fair to levy the fee upon the people who produced the traffic congestion, namely the local government officials whose farcical re-structuring of the city centre’s roads promises further misery to users of both public and private transport?

Would I be right in assuming that officials from Wirral Borough Council have helped the road planners of Liverpool after their “triumphs” at the Arrowe Park and St James Church roundabouts, to name but two?

Stephen Bryan, via email

United approach

I CAN barely believe that I am once more picking up my Daily Post to see that the people in charge of both Liverpool and Liverpool’s success or failure at being Capital of Culture seem to be in a mess.

This is with just months to go until 2008 and less than a week until Liverpool’s 800th birthday celebrations – which themselves are looking set to be a damp squib. Judging by your article on page three of yesterday’s paper, they won’t come close to the celebrations that we had 100 years ago.

I would get angry about all this and bang my fists, but for so long now we have been let down by those we trust to do right for Liverpool that I only have it in me to feel complete disappointment.

Everyone expected Liverpool to fail at this and it looks like we might. Even if next year is the fantastic spectacle, we are all hoping for it will not have been without a lot of undue sweat and tears.

There is not much time left but I think it is time for everyone to put aside their differences and get on with it or walk away.

G Mather, Allerton

Pay them off

I SEE no ships – aka, the non- appearance of the Black Pearl and now the cancelled Ark Royal visit. On the back of this news, we now read about certain people saying they are not going and apparently they are doing a great job. I admire Mr Bradley for his straight thinking and talking, and his decency in suggesting that certain persons should call it a day.

How on earth anyone can insist they have a right to £150,000 a year (reportedly) and preside over the worst puddle and muddle in living history is beyond the common person’s common sense. No doubt it will cost us money to keep them and money to let them go. So, let them go. We need positive people, willing to give everyone a break and not to just take and break everyone's collective goodwill and desire.

What can now be so hard that it needs superior beings? The walls are already caving in, the floor is receding, the roof fell off months ago and yet we still have people wearing the Emperor’s New Clothes as if everything is OK. I say “get out”, and don’t bother coming back.

Pay them up and let them go. Otherwise, the farce and fiasco will rumble on and on and on.

George Gibbons, Bootle

Give it up

IS IT too late to give Capital of Culture to Newcastle? Surely we are all traumatised by the bickering and moaning here.

GMc, L30

Service shock

I SEE Hamley’s is considering bringing its world-renowned store to Liverpool.

Last year, we took our children down to Hamley’s on Christmas Eve to be treated to a magical experience that started the moment we walked through the door when one of the staff, who was demonstrating some toy, beckoned my son over and encouraged him to have a go.

Later, while looking for a particular toy, we asked a nearby assistant who instantly knew what we wanted and was able to discuss in earnest terms the relative merits of the various types on offer with tremendous authority and huge enthusiasm.

In total, we were in the store for around three hours and were dealt with by knowledgeable, courteous and cheerful staff throughout.

How different has been our experience in some toy stores in the city where the assistants, if you can find one, are clearly bored to tears, couldn’t give a damn whether you shop there or not, and haven’t the faintest idea what they sell or where it is.

Boy, are Hamley’s in for a shock if they expect to be able to offer the same service in this city.

LP, name and address supplied

They’re listening

IT IS nice to see that a football club is finally taking notice of what its fans want.

Everton’s decision to involve season ticket holders in the discussion over where the new stadium should be built has, for the first time, made me feel like I am valued by the board as more than just an easy source of income.

Evertonians may be split as to where they want the new stadium built, but at least for once we feel like we are being listened to.

M Collins, Bootle

Thank you

I WOULD like to say a big thank you to the men and women of the Ambulance Service.

They took me to Arrowe Park yesterday and couldn’t have been more caring.

They certainly know their job.

A Ellis, Hoylake.

Festival dream

WHY, oh why, not revive the Garden Festival for 2008? It was such a joy for everyone and we could add a skating rink to keep the young ones fit, happy and occupied?

G McComell, Childwall