Letters to the Editor - 01st May 2008

May 1 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Preparation is key to success

YOU published my letter on Wednesday, April 23, re: Proud of City – "You can take the girl out of Liverpool but not Liverpool out of the girl". It was a very positive take on my wonderful night at the Echo Arena attending the classical concert.

I was amazed at the letters complaining about the evening, although I have to say that, while they were negative thoughts, they were correct.

To achieve my lovely evening (having experienced larger gatherings some years ago at the Manchester Arena), my friend and myself left home at 5pm to arrive in plenty of time to park and find our way through the new complex. Although disappointed by the lack of a beautiful bar overlooking the Mersey and having to accept cold red wine out of a plastic glass, this was how we came to chat and laugh with those wonderful local people whom I wrote about last week.

We were very fortunate to be sitting by a safety expert when the emergency announcement was made. Apparently because of the large amount of smoke generated from the fireworks and cannon, it was an automatic system. There were problems of queuing at the lifts, the stairs and the car park after the event, but surely a little patience and a slower pace out of the Arena would have been the answer. I still had a wonderful time and it was Saturday night, usually a time for me to be sitting on my own watching dire television!

Helen Lloyd, Chester

We are not unruly

WHY, oh why, is Liverpool always targeted as being the most unruly and dangerous city in the UK?

I am just amazed that some other cities do not seem to have the same reputation, but have their downsides also.

How about Manchester and Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle and others?

Liverpool has provided the whole population with the greatest entertainers in the world, I’m sure that can’t be denied.

So, Liverpool is praiseworthy, let’s start to praise it! Also give it the honour it certainly deserves.

Mrs Esme Berman, Woolton

History of city

I RECENTLY attended a premiere showing of a locally-made film about Liverpool and its people, at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

It is called Passport to Liverpool and thankfully it doesn’t use the fame of The Beatles for content, or seize the opportunity to join the excess of shows that are capitalising on Liverpool’s Capital of Culture, although both are mentioned in the film.

It is about the rich and varied history of our magnificent city that is built on the banks of one of Britain’s most important rivers, and its inhabitants who made Liverpool famous throughout the world.

The film starts with local river pilot and scholar, John Curry, who joins the container vessel Atlantic Conveyor at The Skerries, off Anglesey.

While the river pilot concentrates on his task of delivering the Atlantic Conveyor safely to harbour, the makers of the film, who also made Cunard Yanks, examine the history and everyday life of the people who scratched a living on land and gave Liverpool its humour and vibrancy. The people in the film are funny and entertaining, but, although their comments recall past hardships, they still deliver a message of hope for the future.

I know the film is available on DVD, and I would encourage all Liverpudlians to get it.

Tony Rainford, Stockbridge Village

Give carers rights

A RECENT tragic high-profile case involving an around-the-clock family carer must, I hope, get the Government to revise its policy for carers like myself.

I do not know the circumstances of the case, but I know of the psychological effects of the complete economic isolation that a lot of us have to live with.

The carers allowance is £50 per week for a minimum of 35 hours caring for a severely disabled person.

My great-great-aunt fought for and got the vote for women in 1913. Builders got basic rights in the 70s.

We should all be ashamed of ourselves for the fact that jobseekers allowance is £11 higher than the allowance for full-time, sometimes long-term, carers. I believe there are about 400,000 on the carers allowance. Lifers probably find it easier to get education or training.

Like my great-great-aunt, I hope I can campaign to change one of the worst economic and social injustices of my time concerning UK citizens.

Jayson Carmichael, Southport

Bring back sands

MOST seaside resorts throughout the world welcome the so-called "bucket and spade" brigade to their beaches with open arms. Southport’s tourism bosses give the impression that to encourage such people would not be in keeping with the image of our long-standing classic resort.

If a prominent section of our vast beach was given a quick makeover, it would put our town back on the map. The new beach would give very welcome free publicity to Southport and would attract much needed visitors.

So would the councillors please consider the re-instatement of our beach between the Pleasureland roundabout and Birkdale, which has become nothing more than a festering swamp. The re- emergence of our golden sands would be a great attraction for visitors and locals alike.

Clean sand could be extracted from farther out on the beach and built up to a height just above the high water mark, the newly- established beach would then remain clear of mud and debris deposited by high tides. The benefit to our town would be enormous and this could be up and running for the start of our summer season.

John Shawcroft, PR8

Get out and vote

SO MANY people complain and complain about the Government and their local councils, and say that they are not doing enough for us and wasting our taxes. But I guarantee that those people who shout the loudest will be the same ones sitting at home in front of Jeremy Kyle today, instead of getting out and making their voices heard.

I have always voted and will continue to do so as long as I have breath in my body.

J Moore, Whiston

Mindless racism

IN REPLY to Rosalind McArt’s letter on Monday, I, too, remember something similar happening during the early period of World War II, after Italy allied itself to Germany.

I saw Tony Capoldi’s ice cream parlour in Wavertree Road trashed in spite of the family being British, of Italian descent.

America’s entry into the First World War was not delayed, the American people wanted isolationism. However, with the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915 by the U-Boat U-53. And the breaking of a coded German telegram in 1916 by England’s Room 40 Naval Intelligence (now GCHQ) America had no choice but to enter the war.

The telegram offered to reinstate Mexico her lost territory of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if Mexico would join Germany in making war against America. It also said Germany would use unrestricted submarine warfare.

The full story of this incident is in the book, The Zimmermann Telegram, by Barbara Truchman.

Alfred H Mahon, Wallasey

Tough on thugs

GARY NEWLOVE’S wife wants more police on the streets. She wants thugs who kill named and shamed.

I agree with her 100%, but this won’t happen. We are told time after time: "They can’t be named for legal reasons." Why not?

We are told time after time: "they have been given life". This is not true. They are given a couple of years then released. In many cases, they offend again.

Whatever their age, these thugs should be named and shamed. They should be put away and never let out of jail until they come out in a box. It’s about time the law in this country was changed. Thugs are treated with kid gloves in jail. They take some innocent person’s life causing heartbreak, but nothing happens to them on their family.

If they are old enough, they should be put in the Army and sent to Iraq.

Mrs L Nolan, Fazakerley

Charitable loss

MY WIFE and I are both 75-years- old so we decided to convert our front room from a dining room into a bed-sit room, for the time when we can no longer climb the stairs or if one of us is not feeling well. We have a downstairs toilet so it would be ideal.

We have a five-foot wall display cabinet, a dining table, and a cabinet to store books and DVDs which are all in very good condition.

They are stored in the room we have to renovate, and we need to remove them to make space for a bed settee and other bedroom essentials. So we decided to take the furniture to a well-known charity shop. When the gentleman from the shop came to the house he looked at the furniture and said there was no call for it. I pointed out that you could buy the same cabinets in any furniture shop.

I also took a very good working video recorder and table lamp to the charity shop and was told they don’t accept electrical goods. I don’t know why they ask people to give them articles to sell, if when you do they refuse them. In future, I will be taking goods I don’t require to the tip.

Name and address supplied

Why advertise?

CAN someone please tell me why, if One Park West, on the site of the old Chavasse Park, is such a super- successful city development which so many people are desperate to live in, it requires an enormous banner on it advertising apartments for sale?

L Tanner, Waterloo