YEP Letters: January 8

Time to stop stating the obvious

Judy Goodwin, Altofts

Public Health England busy bodies are at it again, telling parents not to give their children too many sugary treats.

This is a organisation which receives over £3 billion of taxpayers’ money and employs over 5,000 people just to state the obvious - eating too much makes you fat, smoking can give you cancer, wrap up when it’s cold, use sunscreen in the sun.

How much longer must the long-suffering tax payer put up with these little gems? Oh for a politician who will drain the swamp.

Bonus for building boss is truly grotesque

Coun Peter Gruen (Lab), Civic Hall, Leeds.

NEARLY all of us know where that invisible line is between right and wrong, good and bad and acceptable and reprehensible.

And even allowing a good margin of individual judgement, there can be no doubt at all that even in today’s executive pay excesses, a bonus of £100m for one individual reeks of such contempt and hypocrisy to be almost unimaginable.

York-based Persimmon chief executive Jeff Fairburn is the individual benefiting from a system so grotesque that some complicit in its construction have already had to fall on their swords.

My personal objection to this is two-fold: first, simply no one can justify such a colossal pay out and everyone implicit in putting the deal together should go.

Secondly, Persimmon, as a volume house builder, has a direct effect on many people’s lives, including some of my constituents. On a number of occasions now, I have seen at first hand the battles some have had to get decent standards of workmanship and finishes from Persimmon.

And this at the same time as the top executive is paid a bonus, which almost by itself, would pay for the East Leeds Orbital Road. Happy New Year Jeff, now cross back over that line into public acceptability and responsibility!

Support for pet hospital

Rebecca Ashman, PDSA Senior Vet

On behalf of pet wellbeing charity, PDSA, which has a busy Pet Hospital in Leeds, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all local players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

We have received fantastic support from players this year, which has helped to secure a better future for thousands of pets in the city, as well as providing emergency care and life-saving equipment.

In 2017, the funding has helped us to:

See 71,000 pets brought to us with emergency conditions requiring immediate veterinary help. This included those treated at our Leeds Pet Hospital

Purchase 34 items through a National Emergency Equipment Fund to repair or replace old clinical equipment, including a new infusion pump to administer life-saving fluids to poorly pets at Leeds PDSA Pet Hospital

Host 52 pet first aid courses across the UK, which have equipped hundreds of people with potentially life-saving skills

Promote PDSA’s online symptom checker, which has been used over 128,000 times. The free tool has helped owners with queries about their pets’ health.

Just like people, pets can suddenly fall ill, or sustain an unexpected injury. Whatever the cause, the emergency care we provide is vital. For some pets, immediate assessment and diagnosis can be the difference between life and death. PDSA is home to the UK’s busiest pet A&E service, so this funding helps us provide a vital lifeline for pets in need.

A total of £255 million has been raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery for good causes across Great Britain since the lottery launched – an incredible achievement. On behalf of us here at PDSA, and all the pets we treat, well done and thank you.

Fond memories of Nick Whalley

Andrea Appleyard, Leeds

I too have some good memories about the homeless man Nick Whalley. He often helped me down the slopes at the Merrion centre, and I sometimes bought him a coffee. One day cheekily he replied “Make mine a cappuccino!”

A crash course in democracy

Colin White, by email

Judy Goodwin needs a crash course in the basics of our democracy (Stop insulting our intelligence, December 21).

Firstly, we all have the opportunity to elect our representatives to the European Parliament which oversees the “unelected bureaucrats in Brussels” just as our civil service answers to our Parliament. Secondly it is the responsibility of the Members of our Sovereign Westminster Parliament to scrutinise the actions of the Government, most particularly in relation to Brexit which is proving to be more problematic with each passing week.

Yes, 17 million did vote to leave the EU in June 2016, against 16 million who voted to remain, but democracy didn’t end on 24th June 2016 and in June 2017 the Prime Minister went to the country asking for a mandate for “Brexit means Brexit” which she didn’t get and she lost her majority in Parliament. MPs are our elected representatives in Parliament, they are not delegates, and their responsibility is to act in the best interests of their constituents and the country according to their beliefs.

Allowing unfettered management of Brexit by a minority government would certainly be insulting the intelligence of the electorate.

Get involved to beat dementia

Judith King, Alzheimer’s Society Head of Region in Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire.

I want to take the opportunity to thank local Alzheimer’s Society supporters who united against dementia last year by fundraising, campaigning and volunteering.

In 2017 Alzheimer’s Society in Yorkshire and the Humber was the official charity for the Tour de Yorkshire and raised over £100,000 plus awareness of dementia along to route. In addition our Community Dementia Roadshow visited many towns and cities including Leeds, Whitby, Bridlington and Bradford.

There are many ways people can get involved to help beat dementia in 2018.

Please visit alzheimers.org.uk/getinvolved to find out how you can unite against dementia.

‘Drunk tanks’ excellent idea

Mrs Judith Harris, Leeds 17

I think the invention of “drunk tanks” are an excellent idea.

Why should someone who is genuinely ill in A&E be in a cubicle next to a “drunkard” who has the potential to shout abuse and swear, disturbing the other patients?

It would also free up care for those who really need treatment.

Passport change is ‘simple logic’

Derrick Bond, Shadwell

Famine, natural disasters, North Korea threatening war - and to put it all into perspective, the colour of our passports.

Why are some people complaining about changing the colour of the British passport to blue after we leave the EU?

It is simple logic that we will no longer be able to use an EU style passport any more.

The young have been fed so much fake news about the the possible problems of leaving the EU, such as how it will be difficult for them to travel around Europe.

The British people never voted to give away our powers to the United States of Europe where Britain is just one voice in 28.

We only voted to join the European Economic Community (EEC ), a free trading area group of six countries before we joined. Europe appears to have been conquered without a war by the Brussels elite.

The case for bus conductors

Sam Peter Hamblett, by email

At peak times for the buses in Leeds there would be a strong case to reinstate conductors, ie between 7-9am and 4-6pm as a bottleneck occurs on buses when passengers get on and pay either by cash or other methods.

This takes up a great deal of time for the driver and erodes the timetable of the bus.

The emphasis should be get the passengers on quickly get them sat down and let a conductor sort out the fares while the driver tries to keep to the time table.

Thank you to police in Pudsey

Mrs V Bedford, Pudsey.

MAY I say, through your paper, a big thank-you to the police in Pudsey for locating my husband and bringing him home? After getting disorientated, he took a wrong bus. Thank you again lads.

Revulsion at sad remains

Edna Levi, Leeds

I FELT revulsion looking at the picture and report (YEP January 5) of the skeleton exhibition at the Leeds Museum. What knowledge did the reported 40,000 visitors hope to gain from these sad and upsetting remains?

Correction

A letter published in the YEP on December 28 (‘Labour has not helped us either’) was wrongly attributed to correspondent A Hague. The letter was actually written by Tarquin Holman. We apologise for the error.