YEP Letters: June 29

England performance ‘pathetic’

Terry Maunder, Kirkstall

Roy Hodgson is apparently the highest paid England manager ever. The players are apparently worth £600 million in total.

The performance last night was pathetic.

There is a tendency in this country to mock jobs like supermarket workers: on shows like BGT the judges can often be heard to tell contestants “your days stacking shelves are over”.

Well, they’re better at their jobs than that shower last night and they’ll never earn in a lifetime what they earn in a month. And, if you think about it, their job is in reality more important – where would we be without food on our supermarket shelves?

Time to get priorities right.

The policies of Corbyn will help the population

Mick Hooson, Chapel Allerton

Hilary Benn should definitely not be Labour Party leader.

His politics lost Labour the last two elections and he supported the Iraq War which will soon be exposed in the Chillcott Report.

The party membership which outnumbers MPs by many thousands to one overwhelmingly backs Jeremy, as he is developing new policies which will will benefit the vast majority of the population.

This is an act of sabotage by an unrepresentative group of MPs who never accepted the verdict of the party membership in the leadership election.

They should be attacking the Tories who are in disarray, not undermining Labour. Jeremy will win any new leadership contest.

Farage should negotiate

David Green, Leeds 14

I really do hope that Nigel Farage will have a place on the Brexit negotiation team, after all he was the person that got us to where we now are, well done Nigel.

He will NOT let the EU steamroller him into anything that benefits the EU from our leaving, but I cannot understand why it will take so long to get out.

All we need to do is say from X date we will no longer pay any money into your coffers, we will be out of the ECHR, we will trade with you on equal terms with no tariffs or payments, close our borders to all EU migration until we have the infastructure to take more people.

And we will continue to work with you against terrorism in the world.

Right to vote in free democracy

Geoff Roper, Adel

Gary Lineker has allegedly said he is ashamed of his generation, presumably because of the recent referendum result. I would like to know what his opinion is of the previous generation who went to war to preserve his and my right to vote in a free democracy.

The question is often asked, how long should we remember what this ‘golden’ generation did for us.

Well, not all that long really, if we are to heed Gary and the remain minority’s opinion.

New store on Eastgate, not Headrow

Denise Marsden, Cookridge

Am I being pedantic if I point out that the new John Lewis store is not on the Headrow, but is actually situated in Eastgate?

According to my memory, what was originally named the “Head Row” goes from the Vicar Lane junction (the top of Eastgate) and continues west, passing the front of the Town Hall, until it reaches the junction with Park Street, when the Headrow then becomes Westgate.

Wherever you were to put it, I still think the new building could have been designed to be a little more user-friendly, as they say today.

Overrated and overpaid

Martin J Phillips, Leeds 16

Two great results in a week: Brexit winning and England losing to Iceland.

The English players are overrated and over-paid. they couldn’t even manage basic ball control. it was like watching a team of eight-year-olds.

Rock against Racism exhibition

John Appleyard, Liversedge

I called at the Impressions gallery in Bradford recently to view Pontefract born photographer Syd 
Shelton’s ‘Rock against Racism’ exhibition which covers the period 1976-1981 when far right groups 
such as the National Front were in the ascendency in local and parliamentary elections.

Rock against Racism’s slogan ‘Love music, hate racism’ would I am sure have been welcomed today by my late MP Jo Cox who was a tenacious campaigner against those who sought to divide us and gender hate.

The music brought together artists and audiences of different races, musical styles and age groups.

Bands who played included Sham 69, Elvis Costello, Tom Robinson, the Clash and the ‘Specials’ who played Potternewton Park Leeds, in 1981 their last gig before splitting up.

The success of Rock against Racism brought about the demise of the National Front and their failure to make a breakthrough at election times.

The exhibition is free and is on view until 3 September.

Put Osborne out to grass

Judy Goodwin, Altofts

George Osborne has said he will need to increase taxes and cut spending as we have voted to leave the EU.

As he was one of the key architects of project fear, whoever is chosen to be the next Prime Minister needs to put him out to grass as soon as possible before he orchestrates a self serving prophecy.

Flouride is not for everyone

A Hague, Leeds

I noticed the letter of Martin Schweiger saying Wakefield’s rejection of fluoride added to their water supply was unfair to children’s teeth (June 8).

Why should many risks be taken for the health of thousands of people, using fluoride just because children cannot be bothered to brush their teeth, or parents see they do.

The only winners would be fluoride suppliers.

Don’t let diabetes hold you back

Stephen Ryan, Head of the North, Diabetes UK

With peak holiday season fast approaching many of the 3.5 million people living with diabetes in the United Kingdom will be looking forward to a well-deserved break in the sunshine or planning a long weekend away.

Sadly, diabetes never takes a holiday but the good news is it doesn’t need to spoil yours. Preparation can make all the difference.

Diabetes UK has loads of useful travel advice at diabetes.org.uk/travel including handy tips about carrying a letter from your doctor, packing extra medication and how to store your supplies.

Other suggestions include taking a letter from your healthcare professional which explains you have diabetes and carrying a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) if you are travelling to a European Union member country – this will ensure you have easy access to healthcare in that country.

If you are not sure what sort of food you should be eating on holiday Diabetes UK’s Enjoy Food section has helpful tips and advice about popular holiday destinations and how to manage your diet so you don’t miss out.

Go to https://www.diabetes.org.uk/holiday-eating

For more information and advice you can also call Diabetes UK’s Helpline on 0345 123 2399.

In the meantime, I’d like to wish everyone a safe 
journey and a fantastic holiday.