YEP Letters: April 10

Government lack of research on sugar

Aled Jones, by email

What disturbs me most about the new tax on sugar is the government’s pathetic lack of research.

Not only is the health case against sugar weak, but in several countries which implemented sugar taxes, most notably Denmark and France, obesity rates have either risen or stayed constant. It really cannot be a good thing for manufacturers to have to put more aspartame in their products.

Only a government with no instinctive belief in personal freedom could endorse this stupidity.

Surely we can be trusted to make informed choices ourselves as to how much sugar we give our own children?

Fines for driving in bus lanes : your views

MORE THAN one million fines are handed out to drivers caught in bus lanes every year in the UK’s 20 biggest cities. Some 3.4m penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued by councils between 2015 and 2017 according to new data seen by the RAC. In the Leeds City Council area more than 145k PCNs were issued during the two-year period. But charge notices in the city fell from 66,418 in 2015 to 37,639 in 2017. The RAC is concerned that many drivers are being punished for accidentally straying into bus lanes because of confusing or inadequate signage. It is calling for a review of national signage guidelines and the introduction of ‘smart bus lanes’ to make things simpler. We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on social media...

Margaret Farr

Where does the money go?

Lees James Cross

Part of your driving test is signs, if you can’t read them it’s totally your fault. Pay up and shut up.

Lindsay Richmond

Totally disgusting that the cameras run 24 hours a day too. Why can’t the lanes be used when the buses aren’t even running?

Martin Walker

200 idiot drivers a day? Excellent. Hope all those fines go towards highway repairs, as soon as possible.

Marie Varley

I wish a lot of people would think before they comment. Bus lanes are for buses and if you can’t read then you shouldn’t be driving, end of.

James Rothschild

And the environmental impact of standing traffic over lithium powered empty public vehicles ... just another angsty hate fine.

Richard Freestone

This says more about our roads than it does about people driving in bus lanes.

Gemma Spiekmans Swithenbank

What is going to happen with all that money I would like to ask?

Stephen Pocklington

Pity bus drivers don’t get fined for trying to get into a bus stop without blocking road.

Simon Freddie George Harris

Or fine them for not using the empty bus lane when they should be using it.

Phil Meade

People don’t give us enough room to get into bus stops.

A bus ranges from 36 to 40 feet in length. Majority of the bus stops in West Yorkshire are not properly marked and if they are they are they only give you an extra five foot to get in it. That’s fine for parallel parking not driving into it. Bus stops are also in stupid places like where they are on junctions. I’m a bus driver and find this extremely frustrating. A bus has to be able to carry a wheelchair by law yet bus stops don’t have to be disabled friendly. Work that one out. Metro and the WYCA have a lot to answer for because they generally couldn’t care less.

Gayna Appleton

If you drive in a bus lane you’ll get fined. It’s not rocket science.

Luke Senior

Just get rid of bus lanes. It would ease traffic and reduce pollution.

Marie Varley

Rightly too, should be more they are for buses and coaches not cars, vans and bikes.

Prescriptions for some “over the counter” remedies such as paracetamol and cold treatments have been cut after NHS officials voted in favour of money-saving plans. Cough mixture and paracetamol along with laxatives and sun creams are among the products that will no longer be routinely prescribed following an NHS England board meeting. We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on social media..

Kelly Goddard

It’s about time. No one needs prescription for paracetamol. You can get it for 25p.

Jane Frost

Baffles me why you would get a lot of those items on prescription anyway. Dandruff shampoo, constipation relief.... surely you would just get these from chemist, supermarket etc?

Joan Ludbrook

You can buy all those things cheap at supermarkets. I have always bought sun creams.paracetamol etc myself and would never have asked to get them on a script.

Jennie Lynn MacIntyre

I hope this is still prescribed to vulnerable people . As a support worker we are not allowed to administer anything unless it’s prescribed.

Claire Bradley

Anyone with chronic problems will still get what they need.

Sue Fletcher

I agree with this if it saves money . Most of these drugs are available quite cheaply over the counter.

Kim Wilson

The NHS needs help, it’s going to be non existent soon.