Letters to the Editor - 7th April 2008

Apr 7 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Help is needed on autism

AS THE parent of a child with autism, I am very worried about what will happen as they get older. Autism is a lifelong condition, yet as I Exist, the new report from The National Autistic Society has found, many adults with the disability struggle to get the help they so desperately need.

Many feel isolated and ignored and are entirely dependent on their families for support. I want to see the right services and support in place so people with autism in Liverpool can reach their true potential – the right help at the right time can have a profound effect. That is why I’m supporting the NAS "think differ- ently about autism" campaign.

I urge people in Liverpool to visit www.think-differently.org.uk and help put pressure on local and national government to do more to transform the lives of adults with autism.

Ms Donna Underwood, L14

Well regarded

IT SEEMS a shame that once again the egg run, a long-standing charity event, is tainted by adverse publicity.

If it isn’t a cry for £40,000 cash for police overtime and a cancellation of an official event, we now have some in fighting regarding who "owns" the event.

The organised event this year, and probably the largest one I have taken part in, took so long to complete (two hours plus) to cover 20 miles, it makes you wonder whether that much "organising" is required.

I saw many bikes stopped because of overheating to both machines and riders!

Long may this event continue to be and to grow, and maybe even become a whole weekend event.

Stefan Ellis, via email

Better behaved

I AGREE with the comments made by Arthur Hendry in his letter.

I attended the World Track Cyc- ling Championships in Manches- ter, and the contrast between that and that of the experience at the Mersey- side derby and other high- profile football matches was profound, and I speak as a football fan.

While the atmosphere was as excitable as you’d expect when the British riders were on the track, the respect shown to the foreign riders, especially during their national anthems, was superb.

This would come as a surprise if the only sport you were aware of was football, where foreign anthems are routinely accompanied by booing from English so-called supporters.

It would have come as no surprise to those of us who also follow rugby, cricket, and now it would seem cycling, which gets such a bad press most of the time.

At least its supporters know how to behave!

David Dubost, Wallasey

Inspiring visit

WHAT a lovely gesture from Yoko Ono, who took children from Alder Hey to visit the house John Lennon grew up in, Mendips.

She did a great job in buying the house for the National Trust and in promoting it ever since.

If it wasn’t for Yoko, we would not have such a great treasure in our city and, whatever anyone says, the Beatles were the best thing to happen to Liverpool – ever.

Even King John has nothing on Lennon and McCartney, not forgetting George Harrison.

I would imagine that the children were delighted to visit such a place of inspiration, especially at a difficult time in their lives.

Mrs P Hartley, West Derby

Un-ladylike day

SO IT’S Ladies’ Day again, and all the women will be out in their short dresses with low cleavage.

"Ladies’" Day is hardly the right name for an event like this, is it?

PG, via email

Proud of event

HOW nice it is to see ladies in all their finery at the Grand National meeting. I've noticed that some commentators are rather sly when referring to our own Ladies' Day, and rather snobbish about it.

It is predominantly the southerners, which is just elitism.

Well, they can keep Ascot and Cheltenham, I think it is lovely ordinary women can get dressed up and take such enjoyment from the day without feeling your clothes aren't expensive enough or you don't know the right people.

I went a few years ago, for not much money, and loved it.

Our Grand National is the finest steeplechase in the world, and I'm proud it's a great populist event.

Sheila O'Brien, Prenton

Fabulous show

IN THIS dull time of the year, isn't it great to see the women of Merseyside put on such a fabulous show at the Grand National for Ladies Day?

True, many of them might not seem like blushing English roses, but to see them out in force on the station platforms and later on in photos across the newspapers in their bright glad-rags cheered me up no end.

Many spectators will not forget the sight of these gorgeous girls parading around, not to see the living Barbie doll like visions of our leading lady Queen WAG, Alex Curran, who is Mrs Steven Gerrard.

Her red frilly flamenco-style off- the-shoulder blouse (thank you to a lady friend for helping with the right fashion terminology there!) sent my temperature soaring on this chilly April day.

Stanley Abbott, Liverpool 18

Terrible state

I TOO was both horrified and astonished by the state of Sefton Park after the circus had been and gone.

I can’t blame the people who run the circus, as they had permission to be there, but I think they should never have been allowed to set up there in the first place.

Surely it is up to the council to make sure our beautiful Victorian parks are preserved in all their glory and to prevent such disasters as this from happening.

I also cannot believe the state of the lake.

In Capital of Culture year, too!

Mr Davies, Aigburth

Protect parks

I AGREE with the gentleman in Thursday’s Daily Post who says he is unhappy with the state of Sefton Park after the circus has been there. The field looks really bad and I am currently avoiding it when I walk my dog because it usually makes me so happy to see it.

This shouldn’t be allowed in 2008, of all years.

Our parks are the jewels in Liverpool’s crown, and should be looked after.

Mr Hurst, via e-mail

Build our own

HAVING read numerous letters in your comments pages regarding the Superlambanana and the hysteria surrounding it, perhaps a little common sense should prevail.

Initially, the "sculpture" was laughed at when first unveiled, but then accepted and enjoyed for its uniqueness.

What basically is wrong here is: 1. Why does no-one in the council know why it was never bought by Liverpool City Council initially and, if it was, where was the paperwork?

2. Why is the council prepared to pay God knows how many hundreds of thousands of pounds to someone who does not come from Liverpool, especially when it appears to have been sculpted by a local team of artists?

Why not let them build a bigger and better model which we can call our own?

J Draper, Woolton

Ticket fiasco

I WAS mildly amused to read in Tuesday’s Daily Post that Liverpool Football Club’s chief executive and the club’s honorary life president, David Moores, had not received tickets for the Champions League quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium.

UEFA top brass and, it has to be said, senior figures within Liverpool FC, have in the past ensured they have an adequate supply of tickets for important games, while the fans who pay their money each week are scrabbling for the left-overs.

Perhaps having experienced the ticketing cold shoulder, a different approach to the allocation of tickets will be in evidence in the future.

I Banks, L25

Political justice

IF ROBERT MUGABE insists he is the presidential winner in Zimbabwe, after overwhelming evidence to the contrary, will that be enough for Britain to take action in that beleaguered country?

He has turned into a dictator who seems every bit as repugnant as Saddam Hussein, with as little regard for human life.

We can’t in all conscience let him continue in his wicked reign if he refuses to go.

Jenny Harris, Mossley Hill

Gone too far

HOW interesting to read that Ben Elton, for so long the barometer of right-on media types, is now berating the BBC for being scared of Muslims, or rather those extremists who claim they represent the true form of this faith.

Meantime, as Ben Elton points out, we're all supposed to not bat an eyelid at the goings-on in the BBC's Vicar of Dibley and Channel 4's Father Ted, which lampoon both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church.

This goes back even further. I remember that Spitting Image had great fun satirising Dr Robert Runcie as Archbishop of Canterbury, but hastily withdrew making figures of fun of Muslim clerics after threats. Because the latter could not take a joke, their demands were heeded, while the good old CoE was supposed to take it on the chin, whatever the jibes.

Ben Elton has revealed that BBC script editors now even balk at the use of phrases such as "let the mountain come of Mohammed" just in case this causes violence to break out.

This is pathetic. At what point did respect for people's religious views turn into fear?

And isn't it rather patronising to believe that Muslims can't take a joke?

Name and address withheld