Letters to the Editor 21st September

Sep 21 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

Does anyone really care?

AM I alone in becoming thoroughly weary about the endless talk of next year’s European Capital of Culture?

In truth, whether it’s a success or failure, it won’t make much difference to ordinary Merseysiders.

From the start it was little more than a PR exercise, enthused over by a small number of mainly youngish, upper-income people, many of whom had wanted to distance themselves from the culture of old Liverpool, the great old port of interest to people around the world.

Instead, you have hotels and office blocks and other concrete shells under construction, which might well have happened whether we had been Capital of Culture or not.

From what I read, it now seems that all hopes hang on whether Paul McCartney will perform here.

I sometimes chuckle, thinking about what John Lennon and George Harrison would have made of it all.

I think it is fair to say that they were both free-thinkers who would have had very little time for the people who organise such events.

But many Liverpudlians are now bored stiff by the whole thing. Our lives go on from day to day. It would be nice if it’s a success, but it doesn’t matter that much.

R Gallagher, Toxteth

Crew concerns

CONGRATULATIONS to all in Liverpool and the Port of Liverpool on the official opening of the Cruise Terminal, enabling world-class cruise ships to once again berth in the heart of our city.

As we watch the cruise ships come and go and welcome the many visitors to our city, let us not ignore the needs of those “visitors” who are so easily forgotten; namely, the hundreds of men and women who work on the cruise ships.

These seafarers, like those working on the cargo and container ships in our port, work away from home and family for up to nine months of the year; working seven days a week. The vast majority who come to Liverpool will never have time to leave their ship and see our city.

For many years now, Mersey Mission to Seafarers and the Apostleship of the Sea, Liverpool have welcomed and supported seafarers from all over the world; visiting them on their ships and when they have the time providing transport to enable them to come ashore to the Seafarers Centre to relax and to make that all-important phone call home.

Today, the two societies work together in partnership and continue to be alongside all seafarers, welcoming these forgotten visitors our city.

John Wilson, Mersey Mission to Seafarers; Peter Devlin, Apostleship of the Sea, Liverpool.

Heroic MP

VETERAN MP Bob Wareing’s de-selection is nothing short of a witch-hunt of a principled politician. Bob has been consistently targeted for his outspoken opposition to every war, five in all, this government has dragged us into.

The Labour Party once held civilised values and counted with pride how many CND members it had. Today, it has sold its soul to a dog-eat-dog, big-business agenda, fundamentally no different to the Tories. Gordon Brown’s first acts as Prime Minister were to tell the Trades Unions they would have less influence in the party, while the next day he invited Thatcher to Downing Street.

New Labour is drenched from head-to-toe in the blood of 650,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, men, women and children, who died needlessly as a result of their support for an immoral war.

Bob’s stand on these issues makes him a hero.

Mark Holt, Chair, Merseyside Stop the War Coalition

Praiseworthy

WITH the many problems our great city has to bear these days, I thought I would just throw a little praise on a section of our medical staff, who are based at the Royal Liverpool Hospital’s St Paul’s Eye Hospital.

I am 70 years of age and I attend an outpatients clinic there of Mr Wishart. When I attend I am always in awe of the staff, their kindness and their efficiency. I am always asked: “How are you?” Then they turn to my particular problem before the person explains every detail of what is to be done.

I just thought, instead of reading all the controversial doom and gloom items, let us, for a change, say thank you and God bless you to those people, instead of just taking them for granted.

W Devon, L14

Vital move

I AM pleased to see that Phil Redmond has been appointed as Chair of the Culture Board, I wish him success in that role and sincerely hope it will be a positive move for 2008. I am very pleased to hear his comments regarding Capital of Culture, as these reflect our discussions and mutual agreement on the issues that have so far beleaguered 2008.

I also feel that his proposal to take the Capital of Culture year to all our communities somewhat vindicates me, as this is what I have said all along. Again, I would reiterate that our communities and local people are absolutely vital to a successful 2008, they are our greatest assets and must benefit too.

Cllr Joe Anderson Leader of the Labour Group

Are you local?

THE lady who wrote in on Monday describing her experiences of trying to set up a tea shop in the new Grosvenor Liverpool 1 shopping complex raises a very important point.

Just how much of this much-promoted shopping centre will have any local feel to it at all? Will it be all the usual high street suspects in bigger, glossier stores, giving the impression yet again that this most characterful of cities is falling victim to “clone town Britain”?

Why didn’t Grosvenor set aside certain shops where local retailers or entrepreneurs could breathe a bit of individuality into what will obviously be a very impressive development.

Otherwise, how is retailing supposed to renew itself and find new blood if those who want to try their hand at selling something different from the mainstream?

P Evans (Mrs), Noctorum

Stand up and fight

SO MANY letters are sent to your paper about the development of the new Chavasse Park, most of them critical of the design, when what we were promised by the developers was a world-class park.

Will this be a warning call to all the people of Liverpool, who value their green spaces and care enough about them, to stand up to developers and fight to keep them, and not believe that all their promises will materialise, especially when we are being told that £4.5m will transform the Garden Festival site into something we can be proud of. Or is this going to be another smoke and mirrors illusionist trick, which will leave us with a third-rate park instead of the jewel in the crown that we were promised.

Eric Moffat, via email

Heartbreaking

THE appeal by the parents of Rhys Jones on the eve of his birthday was heartbreaking to watch and brought tears to my eyes.

Somebody knows who his killer was. Even if that person is hardened enough to be able to, and want to, find and carry a gun, you would hope that being responsible for the death of an innocent lad would have an effect, and someone in Croxteth knows who it was.

How much more of Rhys’s family’s pain needs to be laid bare before someone’s conscience is pricked enough to do the right thing?

Grace Stapleton, Cronton

Make sure it’s free

AS WE celebrate Grandparents’ Day this Sunday, TV Licensing wants to remind anyone who is spending the day with their Granny or Grandad to check they are claiming their free TV licence if they are 75 or over.

Almost 85,900 pensioners in Merseyside are already enjoying the benefits of the concessionary licence, but we hope this will prompt even more people to apply. Figures show that over 570 people in the Liverpool area will turn 75 this October, and become eligible for a free TV licence.

Remember, if you’re 74 and need to renew your licence, you can apply for a short-term licence that will cover you until your 75th birthday, when you will be eligible to apply for a free TV licence.

Taking advantage of the free licence couldn't be more straightforward. All you need to do is contact TV Licensing and provide your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number. Even if you can’t find your National Insurance number, you can still claim the free licence, but you will need to call us on 0845 603 6999 so we can send you the appropriate information. In this case, you will need to show another form of identity, for example a driving licence or passport.

The licence covers your main home and any other household members who live at that address. You need only apply once and TV licensing will automatically renew your free licence.

Charlotte Hancock, TV Licensing

Housing trouble

IS IT any wonder young people are struggling to get on the property ladder when, according to your front-page story, the average house price is nine times as much as the typical wage?

These are the people we need to buy houses in order to keep the market buoyant, and if they are struggling and interest rates remain at their current levels, it is surely only a matter of time before we head for troubled times.

It is time Gordon Brown and the Government detailed what plans they have to get the property market back on track.

SK, via email

Interesting idea

LOOKING at the figures on the cost of homes compared to wages in yesterday’s Daily Post, one can’t help but make the link with the money lenders of this world – all of whom also appear to be struggling.

Mortgages used to be only 2½ times someone’s salary. But lenders must have been handing out far greater multiples of salaries to allow the situation to reach its current stage.

Maybe it’s time they paid up for their greed and profligacy and were made to hand over some of their profits, interest free, to allow young people to buy themselves a home.

R Elder, email