Letters to the Editor - 21st May 2008

May 21 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Council should help Planet

I WAS astonished to read, in Monday’s Daily Post, that the Planet Lightship is still effectively homeless ("Are you ready to save the Planet?).

Having driven passed this numerous times over the past 12 months, since it has been berthed opposite Liverpool One Park West development, I had naturally assumed that this was going to be its new home.

Now I learn that, even after all this time and all the campaigning, letters and features, the boat could still end up going to Manchester.

Forgive me, I am not the wisest when it comes to council politics, but I just don’t get what the problem is with this boat. It is beautiful and from what I understand an extremely important part of Liverpool’s maritime history – so why is it not a tourist attraction promoted and profited from by the council?

It is next to another boat at the moment which has the name Walk the Plank – is that in the same position, or is that accepted by the council? If it is, I don’t understand why, because to my eye it is nowhere near as attractive as the Planet.

K Alwynt, via email

Lost history

WELL, it looks like we are going to lose yet another piece of our maritime history.

How much would it cost to buy the Mersey Bar lightship?

More than the review undertaken for temporarily filling in the Salthouse Dock? £200,000 as I recall. More than the £2,000 cost per year for maintaining each laptop for our councillors?

More than the £70m bill on the Merseytram fiasco?

As we approach the halfway mark in 2008 Capital of Culture, it surely is time for Cllrs Bradley, Anderson, et al, to stop their party political posturing and put Liverpool first.

Save the Mersey Bar lightship, save Superlambanana and for goodness sake save what remains of 2008 Capital of Culture from becoming a damp squib. If you blow Capital of Culture, you will set this city back for another decade or more.

PS, address supplied

Referendum time

CONSIDERING that spread betting tycoon Stuart Wheeler has won permission to launch a High Court challenge over the Government's refusal to hold a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty, surely now Gordon Brown's administration have to stand by their election promise to hold a referendum.

The Government must now put the Bill bringing the renamed EU Constitution into force, on hold. It was already plain that this deeply unpopular Government had no moral right to impose this Treaty on Britain without any democratic mandate. Now the courts are looking at the legality of denying a referendum. Under these circumstances, it would be shockingly arrogant for ministers to carry on as normal.

Even after the recent mauling at the Local Elections in England and Wales, Gordon Brown may well be scared of what the voters have to say, but he cannot wriggle out of his solemn election promise of a referendum. Getting that promise honoured would be a great day for democracy.

Cllr Martyn Barber, Conservative, Crosby

Left infuriated

TWO items of news this week made me particularly infuriated.

Firstly, I learn that (a Scotsman) the Speaker of the House of Commons, who has chaired a Commons committee, has decided that government ministers and Members of Parliament’s expenses are a matter of national security and as such are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and public scrutiny.

The second item to make me write to you is the news that HSBC Liverpool is to vacate the abomination of a building they built on Dale Street in the midst of a classical facade.

They should be made to reinstate the site to its former appearance, and I bet I am not alone in this opinion.

The last item is the resounding silence on the issue of the suggestion to end the "Barnett Formula" by Lord Barnett, whereby the £2.20bn of English taxpayers’ money is used to finance much better education and social services in Scotland.

This is about the same magnitude as the consequence of the 10p tax fiasco and the newspapers are not making much of that.

Name and address supplied

Fantastic support

MY SON'S band, Vacancy in 305, were selected to play the Hub Festival on Sunday and I have to say it was fantastic. The support for the band by the organisers (Liverpool Culture Company) and in particular Sue Whitehead and Julie Turner was superb. The band were greeted like royalty by the back room staff (Kate), given their own changing room and treated as if they were U2.

This event is what Liverpool is all about, a bringing together of all groups of young people to enjoy an exciting event, enjoy the best of Liverpool's young bands and bands who are probably the future of Liverpool music. Well done to all of the bands, and well done to Liverpool Culture Company.

Willie Gibbons, via email

Impressive skills

WHAT a fantastic day out the Hub Festival was at the weekend. At a time when youngsters are always getting a bad name because of the minority of thugs who behave terribly, it was good to see all these young people putting their energies into something so fun and spectacular.

I am far too old to mount a BMX or a skateboard myself, but I was very impressed with the skills these young people had to offer and my grandchildren were blown away by the displays.

Thanks to everyone involved in organising this for a great day out.

S Moore, Garston

Erosion of privacy

THE surveillance of people’s movements on our streets and roads, shops, office buildings and car parks has increased markedly in recent years.

It is acknowledged that, in major UK cities, it is possible to be captured on hundreds of security surveillance cameras every day. The reassurance offered is that law-abiding people have nothing to fear. But a society in which everyone is watched and treated as a potential threat can breed an unhealthy mindset in both the watchers and the watched.

The law of unintended consequence creates concerns that people’s privacy is being eroded and worries about just who could be watching you, and what for?

Ron Formby, Kirkdale

Obesity horror

YOUR correspondent JH, of Warrington (Letters, May 19) writes that they cannot contain their horror at the suggestion that obese children could soon be facing stomach operations and horror is exactly the emotion I felt when I read that story.

But, everywhere we look now, we are bombarded with stories of people so overweight they are near death, if it is not Channel Five reporting on the "half-ton dad" it is the "kids who are too fat to toddle".

How have we as a society got ourselves into this state?

I see these stories and half the time I just cannot even fathom how these people have got to that size, let alone how they can possibly sustain these weights. Some of these people must have to spend most of their days eating.

H Williams, St Helens

School standards

GOVERNMENT plans to alter the balance of school inspections because of "failing standards" are unfair and misguided.

In most instances, the teachers in these schools will be doing their best, but fighting hard against the brick wall of uninterested parents who couldn’t give a damn about education or the future well-being of their children, content in the knowledge that, if they are unemployable, the state will look after them.

I guarantee that, in the better- performing schools, parents will be spending time every evening helping with homework or simply listening to their children reading.

The inspectors should be visiting the parents of the children who are struggling, not the schools they attend.

Mary Welland, Aigburth

Book’s revelations

I READ in your paper that Cherie Blair is surprised by the reaction to the publication and serialisation of her book.

This astounds me. What else did she expect when she revealed very personal and intimate details of her married life with Tony Blair and their children? Do we really need to know what they got up to when they stayed with the Queen at Balmoral?

I’m sure her children have been squirming at the revelations she makes in the book.

This takes embarrassing parent syndrome a step too far.

Mrs PR Jones, Hoylake

More respect

HOW wonderful that last year’s Poppy Appeal managed to raise a record sum of just under £30m.

At a time when morale among current military members is low, it is also appropriate that a Government-study has backed calls for an Armed Forces Day to recognise their role and celebrate veterans.

As much as I dislike the levels of extreme patriotism shown in the United States, I do think it’s time we showed our own Armed Forces and veterans a little more respect, and feel a special holiday would enable people to do this.

K Jones, Crosby

Political hypocrisy

IT BREAKS my heart to see our MPs pass laws with complete disregard to the teachings of God. The same MPs who are demanding human-animal embryo research to "save lives" are the next day voting to make abortion easier.

Not forgetting the continuing deaths in Iraq. So much for "saving lives". The hypocrisy of the secular left is breathtaking.

Sharon Roberts, Liverpool 3

Cruel separation

THIS morning, I was deeply saddened when I saw, on the news, the story of an elderly couple who look set to be separated in their twilight years.

This pair have been married for over 50 years and now, because the husband needs care and his wife does not, the authorities see fit to split them up. How can anyone be so cruel?

Mrs Simm, Wigan