Importance of gun control

Sep 26 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

IN THE wake of the tragic shooting in Finland, EU member states should urgently implement the EU law on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons.

This would ensure that firearms are only licensed to people who do not represent a threat to public safety.

This requires a background check and assessment to ensure someone seeking a licence is not mentally unstable and has not been convicted of a violent crime.

Citizens will rightly demand to know why it takes two tragic shootings and the deaths of many children for legislators in Finland to take action and tighten their gun laws.

The importance of gun control is clear, in a country with over 1.8m guns in circulation, in a population of 5m people.

My committee recognised these risks and legislated for tougher provisions on access to weapons. These proved to be among the most difficult areas to get agreement on, especially with those member states who have a tradition of hunting and shooting clubs.

EU Member States have a deadline of 2010 to bring in the stricter provisions included in the EU law, which was adopted by an overwhelming majority in the European Parliament last November.

Nothing stops them taking action earlier, however. They should not leave it until 2010, or until we have yet more senseless and tragic deaths, to act.

Arlene McCarthy MEP, Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee

Perfect site

PETER ELSON’S report on the history and development of Liverpool’s three Botanic Gardens (Mount Pleasant, Edge Lane and Calderstones) on Monday must have re-awoken memories, pleasant and sad of the wonderful heritage that we once had.

As a keen gardener, I recall the pleasure of strolling through the glasshouses at Hart Hill, marvelling at the displays of tropical plants, the skill of the staff who maintained different temperatures and humidities, and I also recall the horror and disappointment when all this disappeared.

On reading the article, an idea occurred to me. We have (or rather had) a very suitable and very central location for a fourth Botanic Garden, namely the former festival garden site at Otterspool.

The owners and developers of this site had repeatedly said that they are anxious and willing to recreate the gardens, to return at least some of them to their former beauty for the benefit of the city.

How wonderful if they were to generously donate a new suite of glasshouses at the festival site to follow in the footsteps of William Roscoe, the benevolent donor of the first gardens, over 200 years ago.

Donald G Headey, Liverpool Organic Gardeners

Greed is destructive

THERE has to be something very wrong in society when a small group of people can wallow in Champagne and debauchery, due to making obscene amounts of money out of the abject misery of thousands of ordinary people.

The system that allows and encourages this has to be fundamentally wrong, our so- called politicians and world leaders must know this, yet they sit idly by and condone it.

Perhaps they have become so used to the Champagne lifestyle themselves, that it all seems perfectly normal.

Money, we know, is only useful when it’s circulating, the very coins and notes become totally useless when they are only in the hands of a very few. In today’s cashless society, numbers on paper represent a false sense of security that in reality does not exist.

It is little wonder that banks do not trust banks, and people do not trust banks, perhaps the only truly honest system is barter. Maybe we would be better off if you were only allowed to exchange service for service, goods for goods, and you own only what you have worked for honestly.

Let’s do away with all this deceit, and confidence tricks. Greed is not good, greed is only destructive, and we don’t need it.

Mary Scondane, Heswall

Crisis in the market

LAST week’s economic meltdown was the worst since the 1929 Wall Street crash. It will cause a major recession as millions of people are made jobless and in many cases homeless.

The crisis which forced Bush and senior Republicans to intervene in the market place and nationalise banks, to save their buddies, raises many questions. The very act blows away decades of mantra that the market is God.

Socialists have always argued that the market is the law of the jungle with winners and losers. The losers being miners, steelworkers, shipbuilders and dockers, while the winners, as always, are an elitist, voracious, political class whose answer to everything is privatisation and war.

Let’s have a sensible economic debate. It is patently obvious not everything ought to be in the private sector. So let’s nationalise the oil and gas companies, and offer our pensioners cheap fuel this winter.

Mark Holt, via email

A fairer society

YOUR correspondent S Lewis, of London (Daily Post, Letters, September 25), correctly identifies the risks of excessive Government borrowing. However, s/he is completely wrong with the assertion that the Government “cannot raise taxes”?

For decades, it has been recognised that the richest people – those who can most easily afford to pay tax – try to avoid making a fair contribution to society. Legal loopholes in the tax system cost the British public £10bn a year.

Instead of chasing S Lewis’s supposed “government waste”, we should demand that the Government close these tax loopholes.

Rather than cosying up to the obscenely rich, a Labour Government should be seeking a fairer society, along the lines of the old maxim – to each according to their needs; from each according to their means.

Mal Ferguson, Tuebrook

Pupil mystery

RE: ROBERT GREENWOOD’S letter about “The Pupil Who Never Grows Up” (Daily Post, 24/09/08).

While there may be another explanation (I will seek the advice of the school archivist, Mrs A Barry), perhaps the “pupil” in question is Jane Harrison, a bisque headed doll who usually resides at the school’s office/ reception and is, indeed, apparently ageless! Jane is currently in hibernation during major construction work, although there is a lovely photograph (1920s?) picturing Jane and her school friends; perhaps Mrs Barry could furnish a copy, should the Letters page be interested?

Apologies for the rather vague response; I shall ask Mrs Barry to follow this up in a more informative manner!

SE Tickle, Merchant Taylors’

Planet joy

IT IS hard to believe that, after so many arguments, the Mersey Bar Lightship Planet is finally to stay in Liverpool city centre.

Once again, we should give thanks to a small group of ordinary citizens of this city who, faced with losing our heritage, put their hands in their own pockets to save this priceless maritime object.

I’ll raise my glass to Alan Roberts, his partner Sharon Sarsfield and Tom and Angela Surtees for giving their own cash to keep this wonderful old ship in her high-profile berth by The Strand, where already so many people love seeing and photographing her.

Let’s hope that their plans to open a cafeteria and other public amenities on board are a big success, so we can all enjoy going on board Planet and back what these people have done.

S Wilkinson, Walton

Data sale

I WAS utterly stunned to learn in your paper on Tuesday that Merseyside councils have been allowed to sell on the data of residents to credit agencies and marketing organisations.

What right do they have to do this? To know that someone could have made money out of my details being given out is shocking.

The sooner this practice is stopped, the better.

Mrs A Mann, Wavertree

Poor example

I WOULD be grateful if someone could explain to me what is happening with the wind farm off the Crosby shore.

It seemed to be complete about a year ago, but does not look to be producing much electricity.

The arms look as if they are rotating almost by chance and never, as far as I know, all of them. Considering the enormous cost in money and materials, this wind farm appears to be a poor example of green technology.

David Atherton, L23

Momentum

WHAT is going to happen for 2009 in Liverpool? Already 2008 seems to be winding down, so what are the plans to keep the so-called momentum going generated by Capital of Culture.

Clearly the future of Merseyside lies in tourism, so surely it vital that, having created all this interest, we keep the events going that will bring in visitors who crucially want to stay overnight and put money in the city’s coffers.

B Emerson, Liverpool 18

Tram obstruction

THE option to build Line One of the Merseytram system may still be on the cards, despite the forthcoming departure from the cabinet of Ruth Kelly. It all depends on money. So who is responsible for the bright idea to plant the row of semi-mature trees down the middle of Liverpool’s Paradise Street, right in the path of the proposed tramway – Alistair Darling?

T Martin, Liverpool 12

Marvellous time

I WOULD like to praise everyone involved with the Disney on Ice production of Finding Nemo, at the Echo Arena. The set and costumes were fantastic, and all the skaters were simply marvellous. My two daughters had a brilliant time.

Jo Rigby, via email