Letters to the Editor - 27th March 2008

Mar 27 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Don’t let it be covered up

PREDICTABLY, MPs of all parties have closed ranks in an attempt to kick the issue of expenses into the long grass. This should not be allowed to happen, but they hold all the aces with powers to legislate in defence of their interests. Only a continuous publicity campaign will shame our elected politicians into taking action to clean up the system.

Much focus has been on the issue of second homes and their associated running costs, purchased and paid for by the taxpayer, and with the added bonus of a guaranteed major capital gain if an MP or AM should choose to sell. However, this is only one of the benefits enjoyed by our elected members. They also have the opportunity to employ partners or close family members as staff in their offices.

They make the rules that legitimise this practice, with no requirement for staff to have any qualifications or to comply with established employment practices. Now I am sure that many such staff do a good job, but I am equally sure that some family members make only a token contribution in return for generous salaries. This practice is blatant nepotism paid for by the taxpayer. The only way to eradicate the abuse is to prohibit the employment of close family members as staff in the offices of MPs and AMs. This may appear may appear severe, but current employment arrangements demand openness and propriety if our elected representatives are to regain some respect.

It has been said in their defence that such expenses go some way towards rewarding them for what is perceived as a modest salary. The use of expenses to boost family income is totally unacceptable. If salaries are inadequate, then the independent review body should deal with that issue, although I remain to be convinced that any substantial rise could be justified. Finally, I have no confidence in the review of expenses being undertaken by MPs under the chairmanship of Sir George Young and a cross- party group in the Commons. It is like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.

Tom Middlehurst, via email

A reputable stink

BRITAIN’S MPs really do very little to help their own reputations. If they are not in trouble for extra-marital affairs, it is cash donations to their parties or promising constituents one thing before voting with the Government the minute they walk into Westminster.

The latest stinking issue for them is the issue of their own expenses. It is bad enough that there is a group of MPs that wants to keep their expenses secret from us, but by mounting a case at the High Court, at the taxpayers’ expense, they are seriously taking the proverbial out of us. How dare they expect us to pay for them to keep their spending sprees at John Lewis secret?

Surely Michael Martin must realise that such a move can only further damage the already cripplingly low opinion that the majority of ordinary people have of MPs. What is the point in us having a Freedom of Information Act at all if those people who hold the power are able to battle against it in their own interests? David Cameron is right to blast the MPs bringing this action, and his criticism will only serve to raise him higher in the eyes of the public.

P Moores, Allerton

It’s not ‘a nice earner’

I AM outraged by the comments made by Conservative councillor Blakeley, in yesterday’s Post, that Wirral Council’s modest enforcement proposals to support the Borough’s recycling efforts amount to “a nice little earner”.

They have read all the same reports as me, and know full well that these measures are aimed at a very small minority of people who are unwilling and persistently refuse to separate their rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable waste; and only then after advice and support has been offered. Failure to tackle this problem could result in additional costs of up to £750 for each bin lorry whose load is rejected at the Bidston recycling plant.

The council is right to support the vast majority of people in the Borough who want to recycle, indeed who are frustrated that we don’t recycle more. The Government have instructed councils that any revenue from enforcement has to be used to support education and awareness raising or further enforcement, not earning money for the council. The Conservatives are deliberately seeking to mislead readers, and this is the kind of behaviour that gives politics a bad name.

Cllr Gill Gardiner,Liberal Democrat Cabinet member for Environment

Give it up, Mills

DOES Heather Mills not know when to give up?

Not content with grabbing around £25m for her short marriage to Sir Paul, and ranting and raving and trying to blacken his name, she is apparently still hell-bent on proving that he is worth twice what the courts asserted.

This from a woman who has had her character shot full of holes already by one of the highest judges in the land. She really should quit this appalling behaviour, if not for herself and Sir Paul, who surely does not deserve it, but for her daughter.

How can that poor little girl grow up to be a well-adjusted individual after hearing her mother vilified the way she has been?

Surely it will be impossible to shield her forever from the things that have been said and written over the past few weeks.

It may be too late for Heather to make amends for all that, but at least she can stop all this poison from spreading further.

F Gregson, Warrington

A can of worms

I AM ON the side of Claire Curtis-Thomas when it comes to Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

I do not believe that human embryos should be used for stem cell research, particularly not when it involves using hybrid animal-human embryos.

What kind of a Frankensteinian idea is this?

My objection has nothing to do with Catholicism. I am not Catholic or any particular denomination. I just think it is a terrible idea, it’s opening a can of worms.

Neither do I think any baby should be born simply to save another child. The loss of a child is a terrible thing, and we should do everything in our power to prevent it, but this is going too far.

Mrs Harrison, West Kirby

Bill can save lives

I DISAGREE wholeheartedly with the MPs opposing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

I have several sick friends and relations who would benefit from any successful research carried out on stem cells.

Also, I have never lost a child, but if I had one who was very sick.

What greater gift could I give him than a brother or sister who would not only be his companion in life, but also the saviour of his life?

It must be terrible for single women or lesbians who are unable to mother a second child to save their first.

People who object to this Bill cannot have been in a situation where they or someone they love would have benefited from this sort of research.

P Holmes, Aigburth

Leave Sarkozy be

CAN someone tell me why the world seems to be so obsessed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and moreover his relationship with a former supermodel? I am sorry, but I just don’t get all this fuss. Is there some rule somewhere that says that politicians must not fall in love with very beautiful, high-profile women?

His marriage broke up and he fell in love with someone else – does that make him any less able to run his country? I don’t think so.

Anyway, his is a country where affairs and mistresses are pretty much par for the course – at least Sarkozy is up-front and honest about his relationship. Leave him be.

H Thomas, West Derby

‘Cars not welcome’

LIVERPOOL is on its way to becoming the most car-unfriendly city in the country. Already, it is like running the gauntlet to get in here, some days I feel like I should be a stunt driver just to make sure I don’t turn my car over negotiating all the roadworks, holes and ramps.

Now we are going to be punished via Big Brother (Daily Post, March 21). Why not just put big signs on every entrance to the city saying “Cars not welcome” and be done with it?

Tom Selwyn, Aintree

A short-sighted mess

REGARDING the Superlambanana, I am rather amazed that we have found ourselves in a position where people are having to campaign to save it.

How short-sighted was the council in Liverpool in not setting all this down earlier. That said, amid all the hype surrounding it and claims of how much it is loved now and people saying how it must not be allowed to go to Manchester, I still remember the early days of the Superlambanana when it was laughed at and vilified, not lauded by art critics.

How times change.

W Timpson

Teaching ridicule

SO, THE National Union of Teachers have voted to ban Armed Forces recruitment from schools, as they believe that pupils will be duped into joining.

It doesn't say much for the quality of NUT teaching if, after over a decade of having the opportunity to educate and influence pupils, a short presentation by such a recruitment team can dupe their pupils.

Mark Bill, via email

Foul issue addressed

PAT HENRY, of Crosby, is absolutely right about dog walkers not taking their rubbish away with them (Daily Post, Letters, March 26). Dog fouling is a problem which too many people think has gone away when it hasn’t. There are still a lot of dog owners who seem to have no respect for everybody else, and this needs to be addressed.

M Norton, Heswall