Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
Hold
the front page
Further
to BBC bias (Mail), very often on BBC Breakfast and Breakfast
With Frost, coverage of the morning papers is censored.
If the front page of the Daily Mail is critical of Tony
Blair and his Soviet-style Government, it is not shown,
although the front pages of all the other newspapers are
shown. A supposedly independent broadcasting body is acting
as censor for this Government - an absolute disgrace.
Letter from Peter Fish, Chippenham, Wilts. .- Daily Mail,
February 17, 2005
Absolutely
no politician - or, come to that, policeman - has the right
to lock me up without recourse to a judge and jury. I'm
protected by Magna Carta and the 1689 Bill of Rights. Every
MP who supports Charles Clarke's 'house arrest' Bill must
be removed from office at the earliest opportunity. And
it matters not one iota to which party these power-hungry
lunatics belong - their constituencies must deselect them
forthwith.
It
is worth remembering that Adolf Hitler began his ascendancy
by the same politcally dubious route. That Clarke should
feel able to present his Bill to Parliament is the result
of a politcal party having an overwhelming majority, a politically
neutered House of Lords and a weak monarchy which seems
concerned only with its own image. Barrie Draper, Axminster,
Devon. Daily Mail, 24/02/2005
I
know I'm me - why do I need an ID card?
"Sorry,
officers, I don't have an ID card. I never applied for one.
It seemed a bit steep at 300 quid. I do have my free passport,
my driving licence and my London freedom travel pass, each
with my photograph. I have my NHS medical card, with its
lengthy number, given me at birth, my RAF service book with
my Armed Forces number, and a chit authorising me to wear
a few gongs -including a General Service Medal with Malaya
bar, for fighting communist terrorists on behalf of my country,
or so they told me.
"I've
also got various credit cards and store cards, all with
my signature on the back, generally good for buying the
everyday requrements for life as well as the odd luxury.
If you decide to arrest me, I suppose I'll have to be photographed
and given another number, besides my PINs.
"I'm
afraid I haven't got a pension book; it was taken away."
"By
thieves, sir?"
"No
... well, not exactly. By the Government. By the way, may
I see your warrant cards please, gentlemen?"
Oh
dear, they've disappeared.
E. Harry Gumer, Romford, ESSEX - Daily Mail, June 1, 2005
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Why
should Gordon Brown believe anything that Tony Blair says
when no one else does - Letter to Mail
on Sunday, January 23, 2005, from Vic Croft, Westcliff-on-Sea,
Essex.
Some
pledges, Tony
Here
are the six General Election pledges Labour might like
to adopt:
1.
No more lying.
2.
No more dodgy donations.
3.
No more freebees.
4.
No more cronies.
5.
No more spin.
6.
No more Blair.
Letter
to Mail from Steve Willis, Bristol. Wednesday, February
16, 2005.
After
a clear vote against them, we still got eight non-elected
Regional Assemblies. When we vote against the EU Constituion,
we'll get them anyway.
Letter from P.Cove, Aylesbury, BUCKS.-
Daily Mail, January 31, 2005
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It's a shamble
Letter
from John David Emery, Warwick. - Daily Mail, Feb. 9, 2005
Having
just retired from the UK Immigration Service after 34 years, I
know why our immigration control is such a shambles. 'Immigration
authorities' are blamed, by which, I assume, is meant civil servants.
In fact, those we should blame are our MPs who make the rules
that civil servants have to implement.
We
once had an embarkation control system to check that visitors
left on time, but it was abolished by Mike O'Brien, the first
Labour minister for immigration just after Labour came to power
in 1997. Parliament's excellent website, (research paper 99/16)
records a speech made by Mike O'Brien on March 16, 1998, specifically
announcing this decision - to save £3 million.
The
UK Immigration Service was once the most efficient, most effective
and cheapest in the world until it was remodelled by the Government
into the current politically correct, ineffective shambles. Immigration
staff are dedicated to doing a good job, but their efforts are
continually frustrated by the incompetence of those they serve.
The
£3 million saving made in 1998 looks pretty silly when compared
with the real cost we will have to pay to get rid of the present
shambles.
At last the courage
Letter
from C. M Russell, Windsor, Berks. - Daily Mail, January 25, 2005
I
agree with the Conservative Party's plans for coping with immigration:
a different system is badly needed. I have a much-loved daughter-in-law
and several good friends who are Asian and Caribbean immigrants.
It isn't racist to be concerned about the numbers who are coming
into this country: our housing, health and education systems won't
be able to cope if things continue as they are, and this will
cause ill-feeling and racial tension.
Lib
Dem leader Charles Kennedy is wrong: this is not desperation on
the part of the Tories but common sense and in everyone's best
interest.
Oh,
for silent nights
Letter
from J. Hoyland, Chester - Daily Mail, January 25, 2005
It's
4AM. Normally I love the city at this time. It's peaceful.
Maybe the odd taxi; a down-and-out on a park bench, a
stray dog eager for a pat, an urban fox rummaging in the
rubbish bins.
The
air smells sweeter, the stars seem nearer, the cathedral's
silhoutette magical. Not so today. Bars and clubs disgorge
their customers. A blonde sways towards me. "Ooh,
are you a strip-a-gram?"
"No
madam. Sorry to disappoint you."
A
youth throws up. You never get used to the smell of vomit.
Looks like I'll need back-up. Blood flows as fists fly.
Here comes the wagon. Load them up and ship them out to
join the queu at the custody desk.
Down
by the river a lad teeters on the edge, shouting he's
going for a swim. I persuade him him it's not a good idea.
Under a rosy sky, the street cleaners start their rounds.
What a start to their day cleaning up after drunken men
and women.No doubt the cells at the station will be in
the same state, and A&E will be pumping out and stitching
up.
Twenty-four
hour drinking/ I hope not.
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Our
filthy NHS
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail (Name and address supplied
- October 25, 2004
There's
little sign of any 'matron' improving basic hygiene on the wards
of Basildon Hospital in Essex. Nurses are some of the worst culprits
as far as hygiene is concerned.
In
William Harvey Ward, over a three-week period, nursing staff continually
left blood-stained dressings on the floor, left used sick bowls
by or on beds, and did not give bed-bound patients adequate bed-baths,
or change patient's hospital gowns or bed-linen when required.
None
of the medical staff was seen to wash their hands before moving
from one patient to the next. The soap dispenser next to the ward
sink remained empty for more than two days, despite this being
reported to nursing staff. Although replenishment of soap dispensers
was the responsibility of cleaners, medical staff turned a blind
eye or did not care about their inefficiencies. They did not use
the soap dispenser, so had no concern that it was empty.
We
were disgusted at the state of the ward, and the uncaring and
incompetent attitude of the nursing staff that my mother endured
before her death. The lack of basic care and harsh treatment she
received while there has not helped me to come to terms with my
tragic loss.
When
our nurses had time to care - Read letters from talented people
who know that they write about
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Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Liz
Fraser,, Fulham, London - October 6, 2004
At
two in the morning, I had to get up to make tea to calm
me down and control my thoughts of various ways to get rid
of Tony Blair. We whisper in little groups in supermarkets,
on the street, with workmen over a cup of tea, with neighbours:
"Isn't this country dreadful now?" "What
can we do?"
I
can't watch the news of Iraq. We slaughtered the innocents
there - just like Hitler did. After the war, we wondered
how Germans put up with such terrible things. Now we know
- they were as impotent as we are now. Laws are passed insidiously:
until you come across one, you have no idea it's there.
You save up to move house and discover that our Chancellor
levies a huge stamp duty, as well as taxing everything else.
That
buffoon John Prescott can tear down swathes of houses and
back travellers moving into our villages. Women who produce
six children by the age of 20 can expect a three-bedroom
house and state benefits while old folk who've saved a bit
can't get a quarter of the amount given to new immigrants.
Now they want to divide the country. Our once proud British
Isles are being torn apart. Why do the politicians hate
this land of ours?
We
should rise up. Let's have a date to demonstrate against
the Government. Let all the ordinary people get their banners
out. We've got to stop any more damage being done.
Webmaster's
comment: Send this
letter to your local Labour MP sitting in Parliament.
That should get rid of Blair before the next general election.
Vote Blair out here.
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Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Katie Williams, Clacton-on-Sea,
Essex - October 6, 2004
Inmmy
A-levels at Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, Ipswich, I gained
A-grade passes in English Literature, French, History and Politics,
and a B in general studies. Most of my fellow students got the
grades they needed to attend their first choice universities.
I
applied to read History to four universities on the basis of my
predicted grades and was shocked to be rejected by Cambridge,
Durham, Edinburgh and York. I can acceot the rejection from Cambridge,
as so many able students apply, but I could not understand why
I and several of my peers who suffered the same fate were rejected
by the other universities.
I
received no feedback, so my teachers and I could only guess at
possible reasons for these rejections. The rejected applicants
all had one thing in common: we all attended a private school.
I
support state school pupils getting every opportunity to apply
to top universities, and if they are the most able, they should
be given places. But they should not be given preferential treatment.
Universities should not be dictated to by politicians who aim
to meet certain quotas. This is a dangerous and highly unfair
way of conducting admissions procedures, particularly when the
Government is able to influence Universities. I am now obliged
to take an unplanned gap year and feel I have effectively wasted
12 months.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Donald Coleman, Eynsham,
Oxon - October 1, 2004
Tony
Blair now admits he wrongly informed - but he's still with us.
Dr Kelly informed us correctly but, sadly, he is no longer with
us.
******************
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Alan Cox, Stockton-on-Tees,
Teeside - October 1, 2004
Tony
Blair's carefully chosen words at the Labour Party Conference
were 'the information given to me' was wrong. In fact, the correct
information was given to him, but Blair and his cronies had it
'sexed-up'. He
implies that he himself takes the credit for putting Saddam away
to justify his mistakes. We will rue the day we ignored the law
on impeachment and the purpose ot it.
******************
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Geoffrey Brewis, Watford,
Herts. - October 1, 2004
Tony
Blair continues to misrepresent the situation in Iraq to deny
culpability. When he says 'some people' want him to 'say sorry
for getting rid of Saddam', he's trying to shift the focus away
from the issue of trust.
In
saying that he has already apologised for relying on intelligence
that was 'wrong', he tries to shift the blame onto those who provided
it. It's not that it was wrong; it was inadequate and he therefore
exaggerated it to make a case for war.
All
party political rhetoric about policy is fatuous until the greater
issue of trust is addressed. Does Charles Kennedy really think
his party will prosper on anything other than a protest vote at
the next election?
Is
Michael Howard holding fire because he thinks his party will do
better if Blair is still in office?
Have
the Labour
rebels fallen silent because they fear for their seats - unsure
whether they'll do better with Blair or without him?
For
more than 20 years we have had government by default in the face
of alternating, ineffective opposition. The whole system is long
overdue for reform.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Mia Smith, Portsmouth - September
27, 2004
At
8.30am last Saturday I was queuing with a motley crew of 30 others
- teenagers, old people, mums, dads, a couple of kids and a middle-aged
man the colour of parchment (who looked on the verge of collapse).
We all had a look of despair. Some had watery eyes, some clutched
their faces, come had visible swellings. We were waiting to see
a dentist.
We
weren't queuing to see our local dentist. We are part of the growing
number of the population for whom an NHS dentist is a distant
memory. Worse still, those who, like me, are prepared to sign
up privately find that even those lists are closed. In pain and
desperation, I joined the queue to see the emergency NHS dentist
at our local hospital - available for a couple of hours on Saturdays.
The
parchment-coloured chap looked as though he was about to die.
His wife confided in me that he was an insulin-dependent diabetic,
with an abscess on his gum, hadn't been able to eat properly for
days and couldn't find a dentist to treat him. One couple had
travelled 12 miles by bus to get there: they could barely scrape
together the few pounds needed to pay for the husband's treatment.
If
things don't improve, we'll be back to the Forties and Fifties
when it was common for young people to have all their teeth pulled
and dentures fitted 'to save pain and trouble in the future'.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from R. Finlayson, Edgware, Mddx
- September 27, 2004
Stephen
Glover says Tony Blair's ramblings and behaviour are becoming
ever more bizarre as the Iraq situation worsens. In the film The
Caine Mutiny, recently repeated on TV, the crew of a U.S. Navy
destroyer relieve Captain Queeg of his command in order to save
the ship. He initially appeared somewhat eccentric, but as the
film progressed, it became apparent that he was mentally unbalanced.
Substitute
Britain for the destroyer and Blair for Queeg and one has to ask:
is it not becoming increasingly clear that it is overdue for someone
of integrity or authority to wrest control from this crazed individual
(who grins about everything, however serious - surely a sign of
some mental dysfunction) before he commits us to any further disasters?
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from J. Wignall, Accrington, Lancs.
- September 16, 2004
In
1992, no one protested louder than Labour and the trades unions
when the first pension scandal emerged, at Robert Maxwell's Daily
Mirror. In the same year, my company, Belling, also went bust
and another large hole in pension fund assets was 'discovered'.
The
TUC launched the Charter for Pension Fund Democracy in September
1992, and I, along with general secretaries Bill Morris (TGWU)
and John Edmonds (GMB), was invited to address the inaugural meeting
at Blackpool.
Pensions
are even less secure under Labour than the Conservatives. With
£5billion being taken from pension funds annually by the
Chancellor since the 1997 General Election, not a whimper of protest
has been heard from the TUC.
Last
year, national insurance went up by 10%. Again, no protest from
the TUC. Now a £29billion compulsory company pension plan
is proposed. GMB chief Kevin Curran is quoted as saying that pensions
were 'one of the biggest, if not the biggest' issue facing Britain.
So
what have he, the TUC and Labour been doiug for the past 12 years?
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Leslie Judd, Westcliff-on-Sea,
Essex - September 10, 2004
Opposition
to hunting has nothing to do with protection of the fox but everything
to do with hatred of people who hunt, perceived to be for the
moneyed, landed gentry. But hunting is enjoyed, on horseback and
by thousands of ordinary people on foot.
I
started hunting comparatively late in life, 35 years ago. I'm
now 71 and will continue to hunt for as long as I can. My children
and grandchildren say I act like a 40-year-old and I think that's
because I live for my hunting, which keeps me fit.
I
managed by buy my daughter a pony in 1969 and while watching her
at pony camp, someone told me hunting was a wonderful sport. Never
having had a riding lesson, I bought a horse and went hunting.
In my first year, I came off so many times I spent more time running
after the horse than riding it but, with the help of hunt members,
I kept going and it's the best thing that could have happened
to me.
I'm
now retired and have very little money but I can't wait for the
season to start. If hunting is banned, many people in the countryside
will find themselves unemployed, not just those who work directly
for the hunt but thousands of people working on the periphery.
Many people will lose not only their business but a whole way
of life.
The
country is on the verge of civil unrest which could turn very
ugly. Banned or not, I and many others will continue to hunt;
let them make us all criminals, let them try to arrest 50 to 60
riders. Ban hunting, Mr Blair, and you'll wake up one morning
to find London blocked by horse-boxes, riders and hounds.
The
unpleasant people who are victimising animal research centres
and their employees are the same ones who threaten riders, spray
offensive gas at horses and hounds and damage vehicles and property.
We've been defending ourselves against them for years.
Now
we're being threatened with the Parliament Act. The last time
this Act was used was to force through the Act reducing the age
of homosexual consent. This Government seems to have its priorities
all wrong.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Brian J. Simpson, Leicestershire
- September 10, 2004
Alternative
energy isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've just moved into a
house which had solar panels fitted this summer at a cost of more
than £6,000, to save energy sources and help the environment.
I
know August was a wet month but these cells aren't supposed to
need constant sunshine. What a joke! Even in the last few days'
brilliant sunshine, the water hasn't reached higher than 54 degrees
Centigrade and has to run for ages (on a water meter) to be lukewarm.
I have to put on the immersion heater twice a day in order to
wash up in the evening and shower in the morning.
Renewable
energy, especially in older properties, must become much more
effective than this if it is to succeed. Wind, wave, and solar
power are all turning out to be less efficient than we were told.
Or did my landlord simply make a mistake in buying the panels
from a company whose internet reviews are appalling on all counts.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Annette Georgiou, Edgware,
Middlesex - September 2, 2004
I
read with horror of the convicted rapist who sexally assaulted
a 73-year-old woman with dementia on a mixed ward. The Government
promised in 1997 to phase out such wards.
They
are an affront to the dignity, privacy and rights of patients.
there is no medical or nursing argument for their retention. A
return to single-sex wards could be achieved if the political
will existed. It would only take a direct order from Health Secretary
John Reid to Trust executives, instructing segregation of the
sexes.
As
a nurse, I believe such a change would be of enornour benefit
to both male and femal patients' dignity and feelings.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Laurence Holmes, Birmingham
- August 10, 2004
I
am incensed that John Prescott has signalled the way for yet more
controls on how our country shuld be planned - this time in the
form of rural house design.
As
a third-year town planning student at Manchester University, I
am becoming infuriated by the continual assault New Labour makes
against the rich aesthetic tapestry of our towns and countryside,
with a deluge of implausible and often unrealistic policies planners
are expected to implement.
This
latest episode see 'Two Jags' posing as Frank Lloyd Wright without
any of the man's credentials. Apparently, 'traditionalist' architectural
styles, such as Tudor and Georgian, are not to be encouraged in
new-build homes. Instead the vision is for 'futting-edge design'.
For
the right city centre location, this conjures up visions of excitement
and awe-inspiring development. For a suburb or rural area, it
equates to vulgarity and insensitivity. Modernistic and abstract
styles are not only incompatible in such settings, but are also
devoid of charm afforded by period designs, which continue to
be loved by many home buyers.
The
next generation of planners don't want the Government's shoddy
design notions imprinted on our landscape. Neither do we advocate
the piecemeal removal of ouu Green Belts. We want to enhance and
regenerate our towns and villages, building houses at lower densities
with ample gardens for children to play in. Above all else, we
will continue to support the use of period design styles in new
house-building because we want Britain to remain as Britain.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from J.
McDonough, Worthing, Sussex -
August 2, 2004
Air
Marshall Sir John Walker referred to our great democracy.
How secure is that democracy?
We
have an enfeebled Parliament and a disinterested Prime Minister
who heads an overmighty dangerous and sinister government; dangerous
because it has manipulated intelligence for its own purposes;
sinister in its drive to stifle free speech about that manipulation.
Those
who have spoken out are denigrated, others have lost their jobs.
Deaths, including that of a highly-respected scientist, have occurred.
Yet the manipulators still hold office.
If
a Blair government is re-elected, will we see steps taken to clamp
down on free speech in other directions? It is not beyond belief.
the words 'incipient dictatorship'
come to mind.
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Louise
Brewer, Gosforth, Cumbria -
August 2, 2004
"How
do we stop this violence in schools?" bleat the experts after
the tragic death of Luke Walmsley, stabbed in the heart by a vicious
bully inside his school. I have the answer: get rid of the human
rights lobby and replace them with people with common sense.
"Rights
for children!" they screamed - and children got their rights,
with bells on. I was teaching in a tough Lancashire comprehensive
when a 13-year-old girl came up to me in tears claiming that a
boy had threatened her with a knife if she didn't do what he wanted,
too obscene to write here.
I
tackled the boy and saw the handle of a knife sticking out of
his back pocket. The Head appeared, by which time the boy had
thrust the knife deeper into his pocket. I suggested a search.
"But we aren't allowed to search children," the Head
replied. "We have to inform his parents, they will come in
and conduct the search themselves - or we could get someone from
social services or the police."
The
boy went home and returned the next day as if nothing had happened.
Human
rights? Don't make me laugh. What about the rights of the innocent?
Letter to the Editor of
the Daily Mail from Polly Bird, Bedlington, Northumberland - August
10, 2004
When corporal
punishment was an option, more often used as a threat than
an actual act, no one dared to be abusive to a teacher - and lessons
were conducted in a civil manner.
Throughout my schooling I can
remember only a few occasions when pupils were beaten, because
you knew full well where really poor behaviour would lead. And
that, I believe, was the whole point.
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from Mrs Denise Mathers, Maidenhead, Berks. - August
6, 2004
So Hazel Blears thinks Labour
can go on and on, no doubt with the help of dodgy postal voting.
Let's show them that Britain is still a democracy.
Vote for anyone who can unseat
Labour, be it Conservative, LibDem, UKIP or Monster Raving Loony,
to show we will not allow the descent of Britain into a one-party
state.
Webmaster's
comment: "What a good idea! Better still - voters in Hazel
Blears's own constitutuency to demand
that she proposes a vote of 'no confidence' in Tony Blair
for lying to and deceiving the British people over the death of
Dr David Kelly, the presence of 'non-existent' WMD in Iraq, and
the promotion of John Scarlett, in order to earn their vote in
the forthcoming General Election.
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from David
Mortimer, Bletchley, Berks. - August
13, 2004
At
last it has been admitted that divorce and fatherlessness are
connected to crime and anti-social behaviour. I don't believe
for a moment that Michael Howard's view is a 'reversion to core
Conservative policies'; it is an acceptance that spending on the
police can never meet demand unless a review of the real causes
of crime is undertaken,
Howard's
speech has nothing to do with a lurch to the Right and more to
do with not frittering away £1.5 billion a year, as we do
on just one dubious 'remedy', Sure-Start.
For
20 years, politicians of all persuasions have ignored the fact
that criminal activity is more closely related to divorce and
fatherlessness than it is to policing iniatives The only politicised
aspect was sisngling out boys as benefiting hugely from a male
influence in their lives.
But
for girls, too, a father's influence would reduce the number of
teenage pregnancies - another target the Government cannot yet
master.
My
degree has got me nowhere
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from Lisa Roper, Arbroath, Tayside - August 16, 2004
As the two science graduates forced
to become window cleaners have discovered, a degree does not guarantee
you a well-paid, high-flying career.
I separated from my husband in
2001 and could not continue working as a nurse because of the
shifts and childcare difficulties. I did shop work for three months,
then decided to go to college to study tourism. My tutors convinced
me that with a degree the world would be my oyster and the wage
I could expect would be truly wonderful. How naive I was.
I told my four young children
that our lves would change once I had my degree. All it would
take would be three years at college. I received my BA in tourism
in May after a lot of hard work, studying every-thing from international
economics to human resoucce management and sociology.
So where has it got me? Nowhere.
Since May, I have applied for six to seven jobs a week. If I'm
lucky, I get a reply - sorry, but go away - but in the main I
hear nothing. My aspirations of a decent wage have dropped and
I am now applying for jobs that pay little more than when I was
a shop assistant.
I owe £9,000-plus in student
loans and have only £40 a week for food and clothes. However,
I always believe there is a plus to every minus - my house is
spotless, and the children and I have enjoyed many an hour playing
Monopoly.
It
is, indeed, true that a degree is nothing more than a 'lottery
ticket'. A gave up a job as gym instructor to study for a degree
in global politics. I had this naive idea that a degree would
boost my chances in the 'real world' of work.
After
three years of solid work, I received a first class degree and
I was over the moon - well, at least for a while. Then after all
the celebrations, I suddenly realised that my degree would bring
me a small ounce of self-respect, but not a well-paid job. I had
debts of £10,500 so I had to think fast.
I
was forced to look for any kind of work to survive. And for the
last yar since leaving university I have worked as a night cleaner.
It's really not that bad. In fact, by Christmas, I will be debt
free again. But would I do it all again? No chance!
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from Jonathan Derry, Chester,
Cheshire - Aaugust 23, 2004
Just
get our police back on the streets
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from Peter H. Beck, Bolesdale, Suffolk - August 18,
2004
As a former policeman, I have
loing been concerned about modern 'policing' methods and am delighted
Michael Howard seems prepared to seize the initiative. I retired
as a police inspector in the East End of London in 1987. I was
in charge of a shift of men working with them on early, late and
night shifts. I had three sergeants and 24 constables to cover
the policing of Bethnal Green on each shift.
There were 125 pubs in this division,
and ensuring public order was part of our normal responsibilitie,
especially at weekends. We had very few problems because there
were sufficient police officers mainly walking the streets, backed
up by some mobile patrols. This was normal policing in those days,
practised throughout the Metropoltan Police District.
In the early 1990's, due to some
hare-brained Home Office initiative, it was decided that foot
patrols were not the way forward, and suddenly policemen disappeared
from the streets. We now have more police officers than were available
in my time in London, but where are they? When you walk around
the West End of London, you never see police on foot.
The problem is how the police
service is governed by the Home Office and Chief Constables. Present-day
university-educated chief police officers have probably only done,
at most, two years on street duty,(i.e. 'real policing') before
they get accelerated promotion, so they have little idea how policing
the public really works. You can't learn it from textbooks - you
learn about policing from working with the public. New initiatives
can be welcomed, but we must not abandon traditional methods.
I hope the Conservative Party
will make far better use of the extra police officers it intends
to recruit and re-adopt some proper policing methods in our inner
cities as well as in rural areas such as Suffolk where I live.
Letter to the Editor of
the Daily Mail from (name and address supplied) - August 18, 2004
When
I was a teenager and engaged to my future husband, I became pregnant.
I didn't dare tell my mother. I managed to marry without my parents
becoming aware of the pregnancy, but when they found out I was
ostracised.
Given
the choice, I might have opted for an abortion out of fear. But
I would have missed knowing my daughter, born just within wedlock,
and her children. My parents got over the shock within a couple
of years, and eventually came to love my daughter.
It
is only now, looking back, that I can see the whole picture, so
how can we expect teenage girls to have the maturity to make the
momentous decision of ending their babies' life.
Letter to the Editor of
the Daily Mail from Diane Taylor, Oakley, Hants. - August 18,
2004
When
will we learn that the encroachment of towns into the countryside
is destroying the British identity and sense of community spirit?
A perfect example is Oakley, the beautiful Hampshire village that
was recently designated one of the happiest places in Britain.
It is separated from the town of Basingstoke by only a few fields.
Yet
the Government had decided to fill those fields with housing estates,
making Oakley another suburb of a large, ever-sprawling town.
Basingstoke is a great family town, but it's already too large.
Over the past few decades, village after village has been added
to it. It doesn't take a psychologist to realise that having a
local identity is good for us. Being part of a community brings
a sense of responsibility and pride, yet 'belonging' is a concept
that has been systematically eroded by successive governments.
There
is no longer a population explosion. Now is the time to halt absorption
of our contry communities into the towns. Let's take a hint from
the EU's unrealistic drive to join communites artificially that
should be allowed to preserve and enjoy their own unique identity.
It's time to preserve what we have left of British towns and villages.
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from Pat Rood, Cannington, Somerset - August 18, 2004
The
real worry resulting from the loss of 192,000 acres of prime farmland
to satisfy John Prescott's housing policy is the reduction in
our food security. Our self-sufficiency in food has already dropped
to 65%. An increasing reliance on imported goods to feed a growing
population when we face the threat of terrorism and global warming
is the height of folly.
Our
green and pleasant land is the result of generations of farming,
which has provided us with the security of home-produced food.
If we lose that, we cease to be safe. The biggest threat to us
all is a Government that does not realise that.
**********
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from D. Lettler, Winterton,Leics. - August 18, 2004
Farmers
don't cultivate green fields as a foundation for bricks and concrete;
they use them to grow a very precious commodity - food. Town and
country planners have reservations about plans for cutting-edge
country houses in the green belt. Perhaps we should invite John
Prescott's son, a property developer, to give an opinion on the
development of our valuable agricultrual land.
Letter to the Editor of the
Daily Mail from Andrew Goulding, Worksop, Notts.- August 31, 2004
It's time the record was set straight.
As a university student who sat A-levels last year, I regret having
to say this but the politicians and others must open their eyes
and take it from one who knows: these exams are
getting far too easy.
The accolades
my friends and I achieved last year are only now being seen as
some kind of fraud. In most cases, we didn't even revise, finished
most two-hour papers in 20 minutes and left knowing we had scored
over 95%. I know students who walked into their final exams knowing
that if they merely put their name on the paper, they'd already
reached their A-grade target, taking into account scores from
previous exams and coursework. We did virtually no work and all
got A-grades in maths, physics, biology and chemistry- supposedly
the most difficult exams.
Politicians -
and students who think they've done well - should realise that
if we'd sat these exams ten years ago and done the same amount
of work, we would have got C's. We
tried to do papers from the late 1980's and were lucky if we could
answer two of the ten questions in three hours. Yet for the papers
now we could do all ten in 20 minutes.
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