YEP Letters: June 4

Less Jack Daniels more fiery Jack

Terry Maunder, Moortown.

I WOULD disagree with the description of Television as a “punk” band, as stated in your preview, but I would like to thank them for a great gig at The Irish Centre, Leeds. They were generally seen more as “New Wave” rather than “punk” because of their undoubted musicality and lyricism. More Patti Smith than Ramones (both of whom I also love). I bought Marquee Moon the day it came out in 1977. They played a substantial number of songs from that album, including one of my favourites, See No Evil. Mind you, by the end, when the drummer hobbled off, he looked like he was looking forward more to an Epsom salts bath and cup of hot chocolate at the hotel than a rock’n’roll glass or two of Jack Daniels. Incidentally, why do young people these days think it’s acceptable to push in at the front of a queue at the bar?

We don’t need Brussels to trade with EU

Terry Watson, Adel, Leeds

Cameron and Osborne were horrified when Michael Gove said we should leave the single market and trade freely with the EU countries but without the open borders and all the other constraints that are strangling all the EU countries.

There are a hundred countries trading with the EU without single market membership, China being the biggest exporter, but India, Vietnam, Indonesia and many others trade freely without hindrance from Brussels.The EU has been a disaster and is collapsing because of the single currency which so many economists said could never succeed. As an unnamed German official said,”We have invented a machine from Hell we cannot turn off”.

All sorts of dire warnings are being put out by a desperate Prime Minister about the consequences if we vote to leave including the start of World War Three! Yet only weeks ago he stated that if he didn’t get the changes to our EU membership, he would be voting to leave, What has changed since then to cause a war? If we leave, we can stop Cameron being forced to prop up the Euro which he has done so slyly , so far it has cost the British taxpayer £19.7 billion ! and we are not even members.I only hope if we vote to leave, we have a change of leadership, if Dave negotiates the terms, we will end up paying more than we are now.

Motorist pays price again

Councillor Andrew Carter CBE, leader of the Conservative Group, Leeds

I was interested in your story from last week regarding a further price increase to the Council’s Woodhouse Lane car park, from £5.50 for 12 hours up to £6.00 (All-day parking charge to be raised, May 27, 2016).

No one would deny that Leeds City Council has seen reduced funding and that there is a need to increase income to the council to protect services. However, I would question why the council is again seeking to pass charges on to the motorist. The continuing failure to deliver amodern fit for purpose public transport network, as highlighted by the failed NGT scheme, means that many Leeds residents see no alternative to the car. Given this, is it right to raise prices at a major car park once again?

There will not only be increases to the 12 hour charges, there will also be an increase from £4 to £5 for 4 hours and £5 to £6 for 6 hours, both significant price hikes and unfortunately most likely to impact people coming to the city on weekends to shop and visit the vibrant city centre. Leeds is doing well economically but I am far from sure this is the best way to continue that trend especially when set against the backdrop of the bungled NGT scheme.

A recent Centre for Cities report highlighted the need for major cities to have well developed internal public transport systems and the impact it would have on growth and business. Leeds still does not have such a system and clearly the car remains a viable way for people to access the city. Income from Woodhouse Lane was £1.9m last year and the car park remains popular through the week, however in the evening and on weekends this is not replicated. Might it be better to introduce further incentives, on top of the weekend ticket offer, for wider use during these periods instead of once again hitting motorists in the back pocket?

Orgreave story must be heard

Dave MacFadyen, Cross Gates, Leeds

TWO letters caught my attention this week. Ron Firth (YEP Letters, May 30, 2016) and Hilary Andrews (YEP Letters, May 31, 2016).

I’m sure I’m not the only person who noticed the irony contained in those letters. They both oppose an official investigation into the confrontation which took place a Orgreave Coking Plant, during the miners’ strike. However, they clearly demonstrate that, even 32 years on there is a greater than ever need to investigate this incident and it’s antecedents.

Mr Firth suggests that there is a “bandwagon calling for the waste of more taxpayers’ monies..” One can only guess as to which previous bandwagon and waste of taxpayers’ monies he eludes.

He goes on to regurgitate the long discredited propaganda which was created some years prior to the miners’ strike. I would urge all who still believe this version of British “history,” to read “The Ridley Plan,” which has been in the public domain for almost 40 years. It was exposed in the, not widely read, Economist in 1977. It’s easily accessible on the internet, even on official sites dedicated to the “achievements” of Margaret Thatcher. A photocopy of the original, secret, document can be read. It clearly spells out a plan to “de-civilise the working class.”

Bear in mind that this plan was formulated at least seven years before the miners’ strike. It outlined a strategy to build up police numbers and give huge pay rises to the police. It outlined plans to stockpile coal for several years, before confronting the NUM with unexpected pit closures for the purpose of forcing a strike. There were plans to enlist non-union drivers to ship coal around once the strike had been achieved, by the Tory government.

The longer term purpose of the Ridley Plan, formulated under Margaret Thatcher’s supervision, was to “fragment and destroy the organisation(civilisation) of the British working class.” Longterm it would push down wages and make workers feel more vulnerable and less likely to join trade unions because they wouldn’t be able to afford to miss a single wage.

Those miners who picketed the Orgreave Coking Plant, to request solidarity action, know exactly what happened there and they want the world to know what happened there. Do Ron Firth and his supporter, Hilary Andrews, really think that the “bandwagon calling for the waste of more taxpayers’ monies,” would do so if they had something to hide? Many were arrested and charged with very serious offences that day. They, and the families of those who have since died, want a chance to exonerate themselves or their relatives.

Too many cooks spoiling broth

Derek Barker, Moortown

I AM writing to respond to the comments made by John M Collins (YEP June 1, 2016) in regard to the comments made by myself and another reader Dick Lyndley on the EU that were published. First of all for some reason Mr Collins correctly attributes the comments I have made to myself then for some reason I become someone called Mr Watson in his second paragraph but that is neither here nor there.

Mr Collins reasoning that we would be better off staying in the EU and trying to change it from the inside may have had a chance of working when there were only eight member states in the EU 30-odd years ago. But there are now 28 member states with plans to accept other countries as member states in the future. The EU has become the epitome of the old adage of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

With so much cultural diversity now within the fabric of the EU, different nations with different sets of values and priorities, coupled with the failing economic model of the EU single currency, I feel sure that it would be a disaster if we remained.

The UK is the fifth richest nation in the world that is a member or the worlds poorest trading bloc, of course the rest of the EU want us to stay because they rely on our money.

This isn’t happy families where the rich relatives look after their less fortunate cousins who keep befriending every down and out they come across because their rich kinfolk will provide.