Letters to the Editor - October 24th

Oct 24 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

Fears for fate of warships

I AM deeply concerned over the fate of two historic warships closely connected to Liverpool’s unique role in the World War 2 Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Whimbrel and U534. They must be saved for joint display in Canning Dock. They are now as much a part of Liverpool’s heritage as its celebrated Victorian buildings.

HMS Whimbrel is the sole surviving WW2 Atlantic convoy escort vessel and was part of Captain Walker’s Destroyer Escort Group, based in Liverpool, her home port. She is currently lying in Alexandria, Egypt, in good condition, awaiting her return to Canning Dock, where she will be permanently preserved as Britain’s official memorial to the six year Battle of the Atlantic.

The project to renovate and bring Whimbrel to Liverpool by the end of 2008 is progressing well under the leadership of Vice Admiral Michael Gretton (www.hmswhimbrel.org). Even so, £2m must be raised by June, 2008, if she is not to become “the final victim of the battle”.

The U-boat U534, lying derelict in Birkenhead (once part of the defunct Warship Museum) is to be destroyed as an entity: bizarrely, in the interest of “preservation” (Daily Post, October 22).

Merseytravel’s now sanctioned plan is to “preserve” U534 by cutting her in four and placing the bits on display at Woodside, destroying in the process the overpowering visual menace presented by a U-boat.

The logical and obvious site for U534 is intact with Whimbrel, at Canning Dock. The two vessels together would be a particularly poignant reminder of the Atlantic battle which, if lost, would have cost Britain the war.

The organising committee managing the restoration of Whimbrel, realising this, envisaged them side by side. The interest and attraction to tourists, especially cruise liner passengers pouring into the city from next year, would be greatly increased.

Merseytravel’s plan for U534 should be changed to one of genuine preservation. Otherwise, an opportunity literally without parallel will be irretrievably lost.

RA Hall, via email

Metallic onion rings

IT IS very sad to read that the only way forward to “preserve” U534 is to render her into “metallic onion rings”.

While I accept that the cost of transporting the sub intact must be astronomic, can I ask that after being chain-sawed she be welded back into one and then be sectioned lengthwise.

This would allow the insertion of a self contained see-through corridor that would allow the public to travel the full length of the ship, as if still inside her. Also prams, wheel-chairs and people less adept on their legs could easily stroll the full length of this amazing vessel.

May I congratulate the Council on the return of the HMS Conway mast which has just returned to its Four Bridges site.

Tony Slee, Wirral

Delivery times

TO IMPROVE its service to customers, Royal Mail has stopped Sunday collections, ordered staff to start later, and prevented them from starting on their delivery walks as soon as they are ready to go.

All this means that mail is not delivered as soon as it was in the past.

A few years ago, my mail was delivered regularly at 7.15am, now it is more like midday. This is because European Union regulations have decreed that parts of the company have their regulations changed to allow competition by concerns who do not have to make deliveries in remote (and therefore expensive) areas.

This is only one of countless examples of EU interference in this country’s affairs detrimental to our economic wellbeing.

The Government is powerless to ignore or disobey, as it is liable to heavy sanctions for so doing.

To get out of the European Union would allow the Government to do what it is supposed to do, instead of justifying EU diCtats to MPs. Also, it is not true that to get out would harm our trade with other European countries, it would more likely enhance it.

R Alder, Dunfermline

Religious troubles

TWO articles caught my attention last week regarding Hindus. The first was the pilgrimage of hundreds of Hindus to the River Mersey claiming it as their own Ganges of the North and of the welcome they received in Liverpool.

Dr Shiv Pande, Secretary of the Indo British Association, said: “We could easily bring 5,000 Hindus to Liverpool next year.”

On the same day in a different paper was a story about a party of 40 Christmas pilgrims in Lucknow, India, who received death threats.

Many of them elderly and infirm, had to cower on their tour bus while it was pelted with rubbish by the crowd shouting: “English go home”, “descendants of savages”.

One Hindu leader called for the tourists to be executed and they were unable to fulfil their plan to visit a graveyard where some 2,000 Britons are buried or Kanpur where 100 English women and children were thrown into the sacred River Ganges.

J Draper, L5

Housing funding

I WRITE in astonishment at the actions of Cllr Leah Fraser and her Conservative colleagues who have called in Wirral’s bid to secure £11m from the Government to tackle poor housing through the Housing Market Renewal Initiative. The effect of this will be to risk losing the entire bid and the money going elsewhere.

Why are the Tories doing this? They say it is because too much money is going to Birkenhead. The fact is that this programme has always been based on an objective analysis of need, with the initial phase focussing on parts of Birkenhead and later phases moving to areas of Wallasey. Indeed, a great deal of money from this fund has already been spent in Wallasey.

Until this call-in, the Tory leadership has consistently supported the Council’s strategy for spending this money, including the geographical targeting. I can only conclude that their U-turn is motivated by a desire to score political points.

Cllr Phil Davies, Deputy Leader Labour Group, Wirral Council

Communication

IN RESPONSE to the recent letters regarding trying to get information from Merseyside Police Authority,. I would like to make it clear that neither I, nor the Police Authority, has received any communication from George Powell. If he would like to write to us, then we will respond with the information he requires around sickness figures. We are always willing to provide statistical information, providing that it is not of a confidential nature.

In response to Mr Hale referring to the Authority as a “private club”, we have always replied to his communications. However, his enquiries often centre around recent appointments made to the Authority, meaning that the nature of his enquiry often concerns confidential information. We will always reply when a request is made for factual information, but unfortunately it may be that the writer does not accept what they are being told for various reasons.

The forums and events we hold are the perfect opportunity for people to talk to us about any issues they have with the police force and we get positive feedback from people who attend. Any enquiries can also be sent in writing to Merseyside Police Authority, PO Box 101A, West House, Mercury Court, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool, L69 2NU or submitted through our website at www.merseysidepoliceauthority.gov.uk

Cllr Bill Weightman, Chair, Merseyside Police Authority

Magnificent link

WITH reference to your correspondent G Johnson (Letters, October 22). As a regular user of the new “Liverpool South Parkway” as a railway station, as a bus terminus and as a link to Liverpool Airport, I can only describe it as a magnificent transport link and state-of-the-art building.

The name changed from “Allerton Station” since it is no longer just a railway station .

People in south Liverpool are well aware of this fine new facility, and it is about time the rest of Merseyside got wise to what they have available.

The building itself is a fine complement to the new Liverpool airport, and is just one of a host of exciting new buildings in Liverpool of which my friends and I are very much aware, so let’s stop the moaning and give credit for this one where due, ie, Merseyside Passenger Transport.

J Cairns, Woolton

Needs a lick of paint

AS THE city’s year as European Capital of Culture draws nearer, it is evident that many businesses, looking forward to cashing in on the expected visitor influx, have yet to invest in making their premises fit for purpose.

Countless outlets in key locations look run-down andin need of a lick of paint.

They threaten to undermine the welcome initiative of the majority of retailers, pubs and other units to brighten up and complement the lead shown by the city and the Culture Company in dressing their facilities in their party clothes. Merseyside Civic Society urges all proprietors to demonstrate their civic responsibility in contributing directly to the lasting impact on the city’s appearance of its forthcoming year in the spotlight.

Peter Brown (Dr), Merseyside Civic Society

Recognised symbol

RE: THE comments from P Harris in his letter of Monday, October 22. Perhaps Mr Harris should be told that the Liver Buildings are already a recognised icon and symbol for Liverpool.

I can’t understand where some people are coming from nowadays.

George Gibbons, Bootle

International icon

YOUR correspondent P Harris (Letters, October 22) must be out of his mind to think that because the Liver Building is not high enough to poke its head into the clouds like the Eiffel Tower, it is somehow not iconic enough to be an international symbol for Liverpool. What utter nonsense. Size is not everything, you know.

L Moore, Dingle