Letters to the Editor - 23rd June 2008

Jun 23 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

The law is on your side

AS A practising Catholic, I am absolutely aghast at the actions of the Shrewsbury diocese in connection with its on-off proposals to close the church of SS Peter and Paul, New Brighton.

For the Vatican to have written to reassure parishioners that the diocese had “no current plans” to close the church, it must have been well and truly convinced by the Diocese that this was the case. The reality was, it seems, that at that time it was conducting ongoing negotiations with their opposite number at Chester with a view to closing the church in question.

The parishioners of SS Peter and Paul, should be encouraged by the knowledge that church law is on their side. Canon law is very clear on the subject. A bishop cannot close a church without first obtaining the consent of owners.

The law recognises a number of different types of owner, with ownership of the church and presbytery being with the parishioners. The law invalidates any act by a bishop to close a church if he has not first obtained the necessary consents. Also, before acting to close a church, a bishop must consult the Council of Priests on his proposal. If the bishop’s presentation to the Council does not contain details of the necessary consents obtained, this procedure becomes invalid.

What the parishioners of SS Peter and Paul should do now is insist on the bishop making a public statement as to whether he has made any requests for, and received any consents to, closure.

Terry Gregory, Wavertree

Wrong state

WHILE I agree with the general spirit of Philip Griffiths’s attack on New Labour’s “target culture” (Daily Post, June 2) I cannot agree with his depiction of the Soviet Union as the archetypal “undemocratic state”.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 represented the biggest victory for ordinary working people against the tyranny of aristocratic and corporate power in history. It booted out the arbitrary absolutism of the Tsarist regime and replaced it with a genuinely democratic federation of elected workers’ councils or soviets.

Terrified that this “revolutionary virus” might spread to ordinary working people in their own countries, the leaders of Western capitalist states launched an invasion of the young Soviet Union, determined to install a puppet leader more friendly to Western interests.

Although the West ultimately called off the attack, millions had died and the Soviet government had been forced to construct a centralised authoritarian regime in order to survive. Who knows what sort of better society the world might be today, had the West allowed the Russian workers’ state to decide its own future?

Today, 91 years since the Russian Revolution, the capitalist West still finds it hard to avoid meddling in the affairs of other countries, no matter how many people die in the process. If Mr Griffiths is still searching for a nation to define the archetypal “undemocratic state”, might I suggest the United States of America?

Anthony Molyneux, Maghull

Characterless

I WANTED the Bluecoat to be a huge success but, after the hype and the fire, you can see what a poor restoration of the much-loved arts centre has been completed.

It is now a building lacking in soul, lacking in depth of character and lacking in garden space. Without Herbert Tyson Smith’s sculpture studio, it does not feel historic, it feels dead and empty.

No amount of spin will tell me that the place where I learnt to copper plate, etch and draw from life, and buy my books and chat in the cafe, is anything other than a pale shadow of itself.

The garden is a waste. I used a lovely picture hanging in the cafe as inspiration for one of my etchings. It was by Bisson, to whom I now see there is a commemorative plaque in the patio at the back.

Whatever happened to the three works of art that used to hang in the old cafe? I remember they were, in my opinion, great works by this artist who was instrumental in keeping it going through the lean years and I feel they were part of the history of the building.

Does anybody know? Why are they not back on display as these are, in my opinion, part of the historical fabric of the building.

Wayne Colquhoun, L2

Saddened

I WAS incredibly saddened by my visit to the Bluecoat this week. The lovely garden that I whiled away many a happy hour with a meal from the cafe has gone and the whole place has taken on a rather drab, unappealing look, utterly out of keeping with the glorious facade.

Perhaps it would have been better if the fire had taken a greater hold and given the owners a chance to undo the damage they have wreaked.

M Trip, via e-mail

Little lambs

OF ALL the things which have happened so far in the name of our year of culture, I have to say the Go Superlambanana project has been my favourite. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving around town and wandering through the streets on foot and constantly coming across the various incarnations of our lovely mascot.

The work that people have put into personalising these little fellas is breathtaking and, unlike some of the other events stamped with 08, this is one which truly is inclusive for everyone in the city to enjoy.

I look forward to coming across more and more of these over the next 10 weeks.

Mrs E Matthews, Speke

They got it right

AFTER complaining to all and sundry and, on at least one occasion, writing to your paper about the misery which the roadworks on The Strand caused us motorists for years, I feel it only fair now that there is light at the end of the tunnel (so to speak), to commend the city planners.

I had little hope that this road would ever be anything other than a complete nightmare to traverse but, for the past few weeks, I have by and large sailed along it to my offices on Old Hall Street.

I have also had the pleasure of using the underground car park for Liverpool One and must say that it is fantastic. So easy to get in and out of. I am sure as the rest of this area is finished off in the coming months motoring on The Strand can only get better and better.

PM, Warrington

Double standards

I WRITE with concern regarding Liverpool City Council's prying into Cllr Joe Anderson's private phone records. I am even more shocked to hear that the council's motivation for this surveillance was to find out who exposed their cover-up of matters in the public interest.

These are the types of tactics one would expect to find in the police-states that once dominated Eastern Europe. The Liberal Democrats are frequently heard lamenting what they claim is a loss of civil liberties and personal privacy under the current govern- ment, but, at the same time, they seem to see no problems in spying on the private communications of their political opponents. Sadly, double standards in Lib-Dem Liverpool have become all to familiar to the people of this city.

Nick Wallace, via email

Easy ride

RE: TUNNEL fares. I would take issue with Neil Scales’s letter of June 18. He says that there can be no parity with the Dartford Crossing and that council taxes would massively increase if there were parity. Where is his hard evidence for this assertion?

His comments about the protesters shouting in the wrong place completely miss the point. It is not the protesters who should be shouting “in the ears of those at Westminster” – it is Merseytravel itself and Neil Scales who should have been lobbying the Government to get parity and abolition of the tolls. Central government will always get its way while Merseyside has such a weak body representing the interests of the motorists who pay tolls. Government must be rubbing its hands with glee to get such an easy ride when views like this are expressed by the Chief Executive of Merseytravel.

E Robertson, Moreton

A private life

IN REFERENCE to the letter dated June 19, from Hannah West, Southport. While I thank her for her praise, I never mentioned Coleen or Wayne Rooney’s wedding in my letter dated June 16.

When I looked up my original letter as published, it went from the bottom of one column to the top of another.

However, next to it was a letter about the cost of the wedding from someone else, and this is where I think a mistake has been made. My opinion would be to wish Coleen and Wayne every future happiness and hope that at some stage they can have a private life, too.

Cllr Rose Bailey, via email

Democracy

HOW pleasing it is to see the democracy of the Irish making such a helpful and constructive contribution to the democracy of the British. Perhaps the solution is for the people of the British Isles to secede from the European Union and conduct their affairs in a way not dissimilar from the one in Which the Europeans have theirs.

Richard Ede, address supplied

Unhealthy attitude

IT DOES seem unfair that doctors, who enjoy such enormous salaries, are not prepared to work for them and still expect the general population to kow-tow to their decisions.

Doctors are paid by the state – by us – and they should work when we want them to and not expect us to fit in with their social lives.

Those of us on an average wage or less can’t really afford to take time off work to visit a GP.

And the situation is not going to be made easier with these planned superclinics where we have to travel miles to be seen as well as compete with a greater number of people wanting the services of a doctor.

W Rogers, Hoylake