Letters to the Editor - 23rd July 2008

Jul 23 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Gordon, you’re taking liberties

WHAT is it with Gordon Brown and this Labour government that it seems to want to control absolutely every freedom the people of this once fine country have?

Here we are struggling to make ends meet because of ludicrous fuel and utility prices, and then he sticks the boot in on our leisure pursuits.

He has managed to make smoking seem as abhorrent as eating your young, and turned smokers into pariahs.

He has attacked the foods we eat, sticking big labels on it to make sure we know that we could be risking our lives if we tuck into that doner kebab or that pizza, and now there is talk of banning happy hours and putting health warnings on alcoholic drinks just to make sure we are fully aware of the damage they could do to our bodies.

He has used everything from our health to the environment as an excuse for limiting our freedoms.

For Heaven’s sake, the phrase nanny state does not begin to cover this nonsense.

We are supposed to live in a modern, democratic country where it is up to people to make their own decisions about what they do in their lives and the consequences their actions could bring about.

We pay the taxes, we buy the food and we buy the drink, and if we all stopped drinking and smoking and going on foreign holidays and driving petrol cars, the economy would implode.

This Government would do very well to remember that we put them where they are and we can put them back out.

They may try to control what we eat, drink and – if Gordon Brown has his way – drive, but we are the ones who really have the power.

That is the point of a democracy, remember.

Alexis Armshaw, via email

More bin madness

IT APPEARS that the Government’s bin madness knows no bounds since the latest attack on one of the most basic public services is to remove all councils’ legal requirement to empty bins.

This would mean householders would be subjected to various petty dictates about weight, position and contents of their bin.

This comes after the Government’s plans to end weekly bin collection, and to introduce pay-as-you-throw schemes that are really another local tax aided via microchipped bins.

If Labour had any integrity, they would be honest with the electorate and have an open debate about the end of municipal rubbish collection and the obvious privatisation that these various policies amount to.

The system as proposed by Labour would do nothing for a city such as Liverpool that already has great problems with waste. What is needed is not a revolution that ends the system of rubbish collection, but the consistent application and enforcement of the approach already in place.

The recent developments in recycling services have been a success and, with a more robust attitude to dumping, our main problems could be within reach of being dealt with.

The last thing Liverpool needs is a convoluted system that will only cause more dumping and the abandonment of waste. The Government’s proposals are about service cuts, privatisation and tax raising not the environmental welfare of our city.

Cllrs Steve Radford and Chris Lenton, Liverpool Liberal Party

Fuel tax bonanza

WHILE the British people suffer the agonies of rapidly rising fuel costs both at the petrol pumps and through their home energy bills, Gordon Brown must be rubbing his hands in glee at pocketing billions more in fuel tax this year.

The Government’s projected taxation from fuel revenue of £9.9bn has been augmented by an extra £5bn, in light of the rocketing price of oil.

Thus, this year’s fuel tax take is predicted to double that of last year’s, and Darling and Brown net an additional £500m from VAT on household bills.

This government has done nothing to alleviate the pressure on low income households struggling to pay their fuel and energy bills while reaping the dividends from this tax bonanza. It means the Government is profiting from the tax hikes inflicted on cash-strapped motorists and householders, and is giving back very little in return.

Brown compared himself recently to a brooding Heathcliff bestriding his domain in thoughtful contemplation. I venture to suggest that he is more like a miserly Ebenezer Scrooge.

M Phillips, address supplied

Action, not words

HOW many more “new initiatives” and “radical plans” do we need from this government? (Elected Police Chief, Daily Post, July 18).

Labour have been in office for more than 11 years and yet, despite much rhetoric, as with most issues, they still appear to be clueless in the fight against crime.

On Thursday, the Home Secretary told the Commons that the public “wants a new deal with the police”. I would suggest what most people want is for police to fulfil their main function which is to prevent crime, as laid down by Sir Robert Peel over 150 years ago. It is obvious to anyone with an ounce of intelligence that we need police on the streets fighting crime and catching criminals, not spending most of their time filling in paperwork, following politically correct rules and meeting performance targets.

While having a directly elected police chief is a good idea, what do we need Crime and Policing Representatives for? Surely the current police structure is capable of acting on local crime problems without an additional tier of interference.

It will take more than yet another proposal with a new title in a Green Paper to convince the public that they are serious about resolving crime. What is needed is action, not empty words.

Philip Griffiths, UKIP North West Chairman

Pat on the back

ON MONDAY, we had a wonderful day out at Seacombe to see the Parade of Sail.

We caught a bus close to our home and had free bus travel, courtesy of Gordon Brown since we are senior citizens. This took us to Birkenhead Bus Station where, courtesy of Wirral Borough Council, we had free bus travel to Seacombe. The same for the return home. We must have had pounds’ worth of free travel. The whole trip did not cost a penny!

The weather was fine and the parade was amazing. It was fun just sitting on the promenade chatting to other visitors, and the Parade of Sail itself was spectacular.

We expected to be late home due to the demand for transport, but travel arrangements were amazingly efficient, with hardly any waiting for buses.

We would like to say “thank-you” to the Liverpool Culture Company, Wirral Borough Council, and – yes – to Gordon Brown for our free national bus travel. He is getting a lot of criticism nowadays, but, credit where credit is due, he deserves a pat on the back for free bus travel.

Janet and Alex Black, Chester

Missed the boats

ON PAGE seven of Monday’s Daily Post, I noted the Tall Ships were due to start assembling off Otterspool around 1pm and would set sail at 4.30pm.

Following the article’s advice, we decide to travel to New Brighton by Merseyrail to get the best view.

Notwithstanding the fact that the time given in the article was misleading, we then suffered two signal failures and an engine failure, arriving at New Brighton, along with many other expectant travellers, just in time to catch a distant glimpse of the Tall Ships fading in to the distance off the Mersey bar.

We well and truly missed the boats.

Jeff Cheers, via email

Black mark

THE Tall Ships event was a great sight and the organisation excellent. However, a black mark for the MV Balmoral which failed to appear for its advertised and pre-booked river cruise.

As I live locally, I was able to make other arrangements, but a family at the check-in desk had travelled specially from Sussex for this event.

We were told that the river pilot was unable to board the Balmoral at the Bar, which sounds a pretty thin excuse. As there had been advertisements for the ship to sail round Anglesey a day or two earlier, why was she not already in the Mersey for the Tall Ships event? We should be told.

R Daglish

Pristine beaches

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved in keeping Crosby beaches and surrounding areas in a pristine condition over the weekend. It was well worth the parking fee on Monday.

GMc, address supplied

Make us smile

WHAT a charming and uplifting story the Daily Post published on Monday about the Liverpool girl who discovered that her father was a king in Nigeria, making her a princess.

As your headline said, this really was a fairytale.

Too often on TV and in the papers, we read about economic misery and violence. It is good to know that sometimes life can still give us a smile.

The media may not always realise this, but the mood they set can affect the whole country. If you endlessly read and hear about sad things, it is bound to influence people.

On the other hand, happy stories make us feel good.

Sybil Crofton, Crosby

Gurkha tragedy

YOUR article on July 18 “Stress killed retired Gurkha” described a tragedy which surely could have been avoided. I think Gurkhas should have been given automatic leave to settle in the UK, having fought alongside our own troops for time immemorial.

If the Gurkhas had fought for the United States of America, I am sure they would not have been treated in such a renegade manner.

The Gurkha warriors are of the same ilk as Achilles and Myrmidons in the Iliad, and they deserve better than the shameless treatment they now receive.

S Fort, Heswall