YEP letters: October 20

Not much of a life for the Silverback

FROM JENNIFER BOOKBINDER, Cottingley Gardens, Leeds

I feel for the silverback gorilla which recently made news with its aborted escape attempt. The poor creature is probably going stir crazy locked up for life in a zoo with people staring at it for their amusement and entertainment.

Ask yourself, how would you feel if the position was reversed.

Not really much of a life, is it?

Well done Ed Balls for giving Strictly a go

Kathryn Milner, by email

In reply to Richard Kimble (‘Chain mail not fan mail for Ed’, YEP, October 18) I and many other viewers are enjoying watching Ed Balls on Strictly Come Dancing.

Every year there is a “comedy act” on Strictly, someone who has never danced a step in their lives but tries their hardest and is full of enthusiasm about learning to dance.

Strictly is primarily an entertainment show and people like Ed, Jeremy Vine and John Sergeant always prove popular with the voting public as they are entertaining and we all love a trier!

The show would be dull if all the contestants were brilliant dancers. Ed seems like a nice guy, he knows he has no chance of winning and will be voted out eventually but I say good on him for giving it a go!

No benefit to the patients

Terry Maunder, Kirkstall

According to a BBC report referred to on Look North about 26,000 children access mental health services and some have to wait two months to receive treatment. In addition the Children And Social Work Bill has parts in it which allows Councils to be excused from their legal duties to provide for, and protect, vulnerable children for up to six years. These original protections have been built up over 80 years.

New proposals aim at privatising such services; this means, of course, that someone somewhere (including politicians and “entrepreneurs” like Branson who has “bought” numerous services) will make a financial profit at some point from the suffering of others. Privatisation often results in poorer services as the CQC has shown.

Such changes will only add to the vulnerability of these children. The Tory government – the government of the 
people, looking out for us all. There has been no public consultation and no evidence has been produced to support this plan.

Not the only terms changing

Christine Hyde, Dewsbury

At the first meeting in public, of the North Kirklees CCG Governing Body on February 27, 2013 the audience was provided with a glossary due to the huge number of acronyms used by the members.

One term ‘Clinical pathways’ was explained as “Medical guidelines on evidence based practice, for a specific group of patients which improve health results”.

How far we have come! Today some local NHS clinical pathways are decided by private companies who sift out the expensive patients and move them on to public providers. Profit based practice.

The Children’s Services pathway is so changed there can be no evidence base anywhere locally. Will this deter public providers like Mid Yorkshire from bidding? Probably! Applying for contracts is additional expense when you are complying with Deloitte, at considerable expense, trying to save a share of £22bn. So we can expect more profit seekers

No choice for UK but to leave

Anthony James Sokol, Banbury, Oxon

Attempts by Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and the other pro-EU MPs to stall implementation of Article 50 and so force the UK to remain in the single market, looks set to fall at the first hurdle according to Donald Tusk.

The European Council President has clearly stated that there are only two courses of action open to us – leave the EU and membership of the single market or remain an EU member. It is an unequivocal statement.

As we have definitely elected to leave, the ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit issue so fervently debated by opposing sides, should no longer be relevant.

The people have spoken

George Marsden, Colton, Leeds

Apart from Anthony Bamford of JCB we have had nothing but doom and gloom from other business leaders and politicians.

Magna Carta,the Peasants’ Revolt and the English Civil War were all opposed by the arrogant, autocratic, out-of-touch elite.

The same is true with Brexit.People were given a referendum and were asked to choose and make their wishes known,yet once again a cabal is coming out of the woodwork to confound the will of the people.

A gap in his understanding

Ivan Kovacks, by email

I SEE Terry Maunder in his reply to my letter on the government talking about a skill gap has clearly misunderstood both the context and content of my letter.

He also seems to think I should have put my employment history in my letter as well. I am more than happy to indulge him.

I have worked for a number of years in the emergency services, during that time I was a trade union representative and worked alongside and represented many of the groups I referred to as unskilled and know that these services cannot work without them.

They are just as important as those who often get all the publicity. I am currently employed in education and training this and this and my previous roles, I feel are all geared to delivering a service to society.

Even though I referred to several job types as unskilled this was clearly never meant 
as any form of insult and therefore I have nothing to apologise for.

To put my original letter into context I clearly referring to MP’s who were talking about the skills gap in the country, in relation to the amount of foreign workers and saying we should have large numbers of graduates with degrees.

What I was clearly showing that we have large number of foreign workers performing tasks that fall well below degree level.

Our worst ever Prime Minister

B Duffy, by email

I would like to take issue with Grant Woodward’s article, (Yorkshire Evening Post, October 13) regarding the poll carried out by Leeds University Students.

David Cameron’s period in office, both the coalition years and his 14 months,in sole charge were largely ineffectual, due to his having to clear up Labour’s bankrupting 13 years in office and having no money to spend. By far the worst Prime Minister, this country’s ever had was Tony Blair.

The unmitigated disaster of his ‘open door,’ policy on immigration, the ruinous PFI initiative for school and hospital building programme, the politicising of the civil service for his party’s own use, the introduction of ‘spin,’ and the culture of speeches of ‘froth,’ with no substance or money to back up the fine words.

But by far his worst action was to take this country into an illegal war on a pack of lies, on the tailcoats of America. The hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers lives lost, needlessly, for the vanity of two maniacs, who then continued into Afghanistan, a country where no army has ever succeeded was plain and utter madness.

Every Labour government has left the country on its knees,but Tony defintely took the biscuit. Hopefully, one day he will face a war crimes trial in the Hague.

Thank goodness for Mr Cameron and Brexit!