SURELY the term “United Kingdom” is a misnomer. How are we united when there are so many anomalies between us?
Adding to the free prescriptions, free nursing home care, free hospital parking and university fees in Scotland, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has announced that he intends to scrap the council tax there.
The inhabitants of Wales also enjoy the benefit of free prescriptions. When will there be similar perks for the English, who have become the poor relations? I know that this last question is hypothetical as the probable answer is “never!”.
Elsie M Eva
Lepton
Call for consultation
OUR system of Parliamentary government is based on the election of Members of Parliament whose job is to represent the wishes of their electors. Perhaps this was once the case, but it is so no longer.
MPs put their own interests first and their top priority is to continue to enjoy the salary, expenses and (eventually) pension which come with the role.
I see no evidence of any MPs of any party regularly consulting their constituents and then carrying out their wishes.
So if it isn’t working why do we continue in this way?
The only reason for the concept of representation was that it was impractical to consult the electorate. That is so no longer; with modern communications it is quite practical to regularly consult the public, who therefore have no need for anyone to represent their wishes.
This would be true democracy; and none of our political parties would touch the idea with a bargepole. Just think; they might have to obey (instead of command) Joe Public!
Arthur Quarmby
Holme
Thanks to you all
ON behalf of Mandy Wibberley, my husband and myself we would like to say a massive thank you to Meltham Liberal Club and the Victoria Park Hotel in Meltham for their support in our fundraising for the Motor Neurone Society.
Also our grateful thanks to all the shopkeepers and everyone who gave prizes for the raffles. Special thanks also to Darren and Gary.
Lastly a great big thank you to all who came along to support us on the day.
Raymond and Kathleen Crawshaw
Meltham
Beautiful flowers
I WOULD like to say thank you for all the beautiful flower arrangements that have been all around the town this summer, especially the very large planters.
They all looked stunning; none could be better.
S Day
Deighton
Horace and Doris praised
I LOVE your Horace and Doris cartoons, some are so true to life. I send them to Australia where my penfriend takes them to her ladies’ group and her husband shows them to his pals. They think they are funny.
Incidentally, I have been writing to Beverley for 64 years. We did lose touch for a while, then one evening, staring out at me from the Examiner, I saw: “Message for Marjorie”. They had got a friend from Lancashire to write to the paper. So thanks to you we were reunited.
I am so proud of our friendship; we have so much in common.
Marjorie Medrek
Bradley
Wrong temperatures!
IN his article about global warming (Examiner September 2), expert Dr Paul Humphreys talks a lot of hot air.
He advises us that a temperature of 0.5° is 33°F. Wrong, doctor; it’s 0.9°F. Similarly he would have us believe a 6°C increase is actually 43°F. Wrong again, doc; it is 10.8°F. Surely a senior lecturer in microbiology cannot confuse actual temperature with change in temperature? I’ll bet the good doctor just uses temperature conversion on his computer to get the wrong data. Try doing without the 32 and you will get sensible figures. There’s a lot to be said for using a pencil and paper.
Alan Buttle
Honley
Denis and holy orders
JOURNALISTS have a very important role to play in the use of words (“Holy last orders,” Denis Kilcommons September 2).
The term “holy orders” relates specifically to men (and women!) who have taken the rank of deacon, priest or bishop.
The 1662 Prayer Book lays down the rite for the ordering of these positions in the Church. Such appropriation of these words to imply the serving of alcoholic beverages is unacceptable.
When Jesus visited the temple on his way to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover he called in the temple and as he passed through that sacred portal we are told he was angered that the holy site was being desecrated.
We are told he overthrew the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those who sold the creatures for sacrifice, claiming: “My house is the house of prayer and you have made it a den of thieves.”
Denis’s article is a play of the incident with the proposal for Birmingham Cathedral and of other “church” premises for other than worship.
The Church of England has tried to attract people of this country to observe the requirement of worship with an alternative to the Book of Common Prayer, but unfortunately is failing.
Shortly I shall be observing the diamond jubilee of my “taking holy orders” – Denis, not a licence to serve beverages – in Wakefield Cathedral.
Canon Peter Spivey
Huddersfield
Charity walkers’ plea
ON Sunday September 14, I and a group of friends are doing a walk in aid of Cancer Research UK. The walk is going to begin at 9.30am and is about 15 miles.
We are meeting in the centre of Holmfirth and heading to Holme Moss mast via Digley Reservoir. After reaching Holme Moss we will be turning around and heading for Castle Hill before returning to Holmfirth. We have set ourselves a £1,000 target for the charity. Anybody willing to find out more can email me at nebanosiv@hotmail.co.uk or donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/benvisona. Every little donation can make a big difference. Ben Visona
Huddersfield
We want a bus!
OH JOY, a bus pass to take us anywhere.
But sadly no bus to get us there. We’ve a lovely new shelter and bright red stop, but no transport to the local shop.
So me and my new hip will have to stay indoors; no trip for us to visit the stores. So Mr Metro if you pass you can wave at us. But better still, bring your bus!
C M Robinson
Bradley Road
Taxi action demand
REGARDING your article about unlicensed taxi cabs I do not understand the following points.
If the authorities know this is happening why is the appropriate action not taken by the authority in charge?
Lives are at risk should an accident occur and the victims are uncompensated for their misfortune.
How can this be ignored?
Kathleen Etches
Springwood
A collection lottery?
I’M pleased for the Golcar resident who gets their garden waste collected within days.
Do we have a postcode lottery, because I have twice had to wait six weeks for mine to be collected?
And when they did come to collect, the collectors left half the bags, presumably because they smelled of rotting waste.
Well of course there was a smell; they were left uncollected for six weeks!
Disgusted
A lodge and Royds Hall
LAST WEEK you showed Wessenden Lodge and wanted more details about it. It was indeed built as a shooting lodge for Sir Joseph Crosland, who actually died there in August, 1904, just before the grouse shooting season began.
My father-in-law, Edward Free, lived in Marsden and as a small boy remembered the coaches passing through the village with the shooters and other guests on their way to the lodge.
Joseph, a mill owner, had Royds Wood built in 1866, two years after he was married. That mansion was known as Royds Hall when it became a secondary school in 1921.
His life and philanthropic activities are recorded in my book on the History of Royds Hall published in 1996. I still have it for sale (proceeds to the school) at £4.85 (£5.50 incl. p&p), obtainable by contacting me at 01484 533383.
Lynn Free
Marsh
If you don’t like it . . .
WE HAVE lots of people out of work who cannot get a job, so what a shame it is that all those in work don’t realise how lucky they are, especially council workers, who have good wages and security.
Yet they have to keep striking for more money. If they are not satisfied, move out. Lots of people would be over the moon to have the chance to settle in their jobs with full security and good wages, even at the present rates.
H Barrowclough
Waterloo
Goodbye, old oven!
ON Monday evening our microwave oven gave up the ghost. My husband put it outside by our back door and went out to buy a new one.
When I returned home from work on Tuesday evening I was impressed to find the old microwave gone. I remarked to my husband how efficient Kirklees Council had been in collecting it, especially if he’d only rung that morning.
He looked at me blankly and bemused; I explained that the old one had vanished.
“But I haven’t rung them yet...” he said. The plot thickened until we realised our old one had been nicked, more than likely by the teams of blokes known as “scrappers”.
These are the fellas that the police have been warning us about, the type who take lead from church roofs and basically anything they can sell to the dealers, nailed down or otherwise.
While they have saved us the job of ringing Kirklees Council and waiting for days on end for the microwave to be picked up it would have been nice to have been asked!
Bemused
Netherton
This is democracy
MR MARTIN (Mailbag, August 16) claims to have followed recent discussion in these pages between Messrs Schofield, Dorril and myself on the EU “with some interest”.
The largest part of the debate has centred not on the EU itself, but on the more important question of democracy.
I raised the point that Europe is an issue which splits the major parties, and argued that this is one reason why only a referendum can decide the matter democratically.
I have not been arguing directly for UK withdrawal from the EU, although that is an option which I tend to look upon favourably.
Rather, I have been calling for a full and open debate about the pros and cons of the situation. I am convinced that in the 1970s the UK could have prospered without being tied politically and economically to the European apron strings.
I am not as convinced today, in a very different world, that we can stand alone economically. I do believe that ever closer political union is not in the national interest. This is why, in my view, we need debate and a referendum.
I have said that any true democrat, such as myself, would then be honour-bound to accept the majority decision. That is democracy in practice. If a commitment to democratic processes is seen by Mr Martin as merely my personal prejudice then I am proud to be prejudiced in such a matter.
Bill Armer
Deighton
