MY RESPECTS go out to the family of soldier Lee Rigby who was killed for no reason other than doing his duty for this country.

A proud soldier and loving father and husband savagely murdered on the very streets of Britain – the very place where he should have been safe, never mind the dusty badlands of Helmand.

Prime Minister David Cameron has told the nation that “we should carry on as normal”.

True, but for the family of Lee Rigby this will sadly never happen.

In my view, those proven to be responsible for taking this man’s life should never see the light of day again.

They shouldn’t even get to live the rest of their lives in prison. Perhaps it is time to look again at reinstating the death penalty.

Drummer Lee Rigby’s family have to live with the aftermath of his tragic death. Lee Rigby will never see his child grow up, never see his family again, never grow old.

My case is settled, the world, this country would be a better place without such evil people.

Our thoughts and respect goes out to Drummer Lee Rigby’s family.

Stand down and RIP Lee Rigby. Your duty is done.

R L

Scissett

On the move

ON THE subject of Arthur Quarmby’s letter (Mailbag, May 24) about the three way temporary traffic lights at the new Lidl in Holmfirth, one morning last week one of the lights was stuck on red causing chaos.

When I came back someone had turned the lights away from oncoming traffic and guess what? The traffic flowed.

John Harrison

Holmfirth

On the right path

I FELT I had to write in concerning the priorities of Kirklees Council on the subject of highway maintenance and paths in particular.

Driving through Dalton the other day, I noticed council workmen ripping up tarmac paths and replacing it with flags!

Shepley’s paths are crumbling away and have not been repaired or replaced in the 20 years I have lived here.

A few miles down the road in Fenay Bridge they replace the entire stretch of road with new tarmac.

What do we get? Chippings again for the second year on the trot?

Come on Kirklees, get your act together. Sort out speeding vehicles, the useless zebra crossing and street lighting from the Victorian times.

We pay our council tax like the rest of the areas so just remember we are here.

i Jackson

shepley

Civic pride

I WOULD like to say through your letters page, what a privilege and pleasure it was to have been invited both to the mayor-making of the new Mayor of Kirklees, Councillor Martyn Bolt, and also to his civic dinner in the evening.

I for one didn’t mind paying the £25 for what was a very enjoyable evening, the food was excellent, the entertainment by Songsational was first class and the speeches were both humorous and serious.

I wish both the Mayor and the Mayoress a wonderful term of office, and a prosperous one for his chosen charity – One Community.

The people that chose to be absent certainly missed a good night out.

Barbara Harrison

Huddersfield

Better tomorrow

KIRKLEES Labour leader Clr Khan’s response to the sales of council houses (Examiner May 23) is very revealing.

Clearly, this staunch Socialist cannot stomach the thought that people might be able to work their way up the social ladder and, in the process, become self-sufficient.

Indeed, Clr Khan appears to take particular exception to the fact that some new home-owners “may have been in receipt of housing benefit for all their lives”.

Here, in a sentence, we have the heart of Labour’s social policy – keep the poor down and dependent on benefits.

Don’t encourage anything which may give them a hand up, but keep them reliant on a hand-out instead.

There is no hope in this message: no hope that people may be enabled to stand on their own two feet; no hope that we can enable social mobility so that the children have better lives than their parents and grand-parents; no hope that we can break the inter-generational cycle of poverty imposed by uncaring “welfare”.

Unlike Clr Khan and much of the Labour party, I support a benefit system which aims to free people from State-dependent servitude, from a life on the margins of society.

I want people from the most deprived backgrounds to be able to dream of, and have realistic aspirations for, a better tomorrow. Labour just wants to keep them “in their place”, at the bottom of society. How depressing.

Bill Armer

Deighton

Get gardening

BRITAIN in 2012 seemed a brighter place to be. The London Olympics, the Queen’s Jubilee and dozens of other local and national events cheered us all.

Suddenly, with weeks of cold, wet weather and little sign of the sun, this year feels like a damp squib.

So I’ve teamed up with the Sunday People, National Garden Gift Vouchers and Prince Charles’ new charity, the Princes Foundation, to help celebrate the greatness of Britain all over again – and there are prizes worth thousands of pounds on offer.

We want to help inspire Britons to get out in their front gardens and make them great for all of us – we’re looking for Britain’s Cultivation Street.

I’m looking for the prettiest street in the UK, which must feature at least four consecutive gardens on one road.

There will be an overall winner, who will take the prize of £10,000 of vouchers but each runner up from the eight regions of Britain will each receive £500.

There are also six special awards which you can enter separately. The categories are Generation Street, Multiplication Street, Inspiration Street, Transformation Street, Cultivation School and Sustainability and Community Street, which is being endorsed by the Prince’s Foundation. The winning school will also get £1000 of gardening vouchers.

To enter fill out the form at www.cultivationstreet.co.uk. Applications can be sent online or by post. It’s free to enter and closes on Monday August 26. Good luck!

David Domoney

Sunday People Gardening Columnist

Bankrupt ideas

IN REPLY to Otto Glimmer’s letter in Wednesday’s Examiner, ‘time to resist’ where the writer suggests that the only way to resist council cuts is “by strike action, direct action, and spreading disobedience and rebellion in both the work place and the community.”

Has he not heard of the ballot box! Labour had their go at running the country last time and Messrs Blair, Balls and Brown came within a hair’s breadth of bankrupting us.

Peter K Garside

Slaithwaite