HAS anyone on the Examiner or Kirklees Council considered the possibility that there could be a connection between the 2008/9 resurgence of the “push” for fluoridation, the article in the Examiner, December 16 featuring Dr Peter Clemenson of Huddersfield University and the brief UK Press announcement stating that Britain has sold off its stake in the Aldermaston Weapons Establishment, relinquishing control of nuclear war head production in the UK?

Do any of the Kirklees councillors realise that the fluoride tank washings from several major industries including the nuclear industry and the hazards of their disposal could be at the root of the Government’s persistence in attempting to delude populations throughout the country into accepting the totally false propaganda, that fluoride is essential to the prevention of tooth decay.

Peter Emerson on December 16 used exactly the same commercial “psycho-terminology” as the American fluoride pushers used in an attempt to convince residents and farmers affected by airborne fluoride emission from the production of the first nuclear weapons, that fluoride is so safe that people can brush their teeth with it and can also drink it with their tap water.

Peter Emerson is correct in stating that there is a small amount of fluoride in tea and various food stuffs but he omits to inform that fluoride is an accumulative poison and that it is more toxic than lead. Sooner or later it will reach an intolerable level and manifest itself in a wide spectrum of disease.

Have Kirklees never wondered why it is that children are now developing leukaemia, brain tumours, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, at such an early age.

The American Dental Association and the British Fluoridation Society have at last caught on to the havoc they have been wreaking with the health and lives of children. No longer do they advise that fluoride drops and tablets should be given to infants and children but are unlikely to explain to the press and bereaved parents why.

D J Edmondson

Secretary, Calderdale Citizens Protest Against Fluoridation

Slow progress in square

I AM part of the Manchester City Council Labour Party, and I come over by train to visit a friend in Huddersfield every few weeks.

I am appalled that the work outside the station is still a mess after seven months. I am amazed how slow the work progresses compared to how we work in Manchester. Manchester City Council would have taken action by now on making sure the work is completed by contractors to a reasonable timescale.

I like the town of Huddersfield, its buildings, its people and of course its son, Harold Wilson; and I am pleased that quality improvements are being carried out. However, I would like to see that the work will come to a completion in the near future.

Brian Wimpenny

Manchester

Price of a pint

SO Tony Brookes of the Head of Steam objects to Wetherspoon’s 99p pint on moral grounds (Examiner, January 7). He reckons that in recessionary times when we’re skint beer shouldn’t be cheaper because people will be able to afford to drink a bit more, and we might all end up on Hogarth’s Beer Street.

Eh? A publican who doesn’t want people to drink? Nothing to do with the fact that 99p will make his beer 160% more expensive than Wetherspoon’s then?

Why is it that the only two things that our self-appointed moral guardians consider shouldn’t be sold cheaply are beer and petrol? Why not complain at cheap butter, white bread, McDonald’s, televisions, mobile phones – in other words everything that’s “bad” for you?

I’ll tell you what Mr Brookes - I’ll decide for myself how much I’ll pay for beer, how much I’ll drink and where I’ll drink it. Guess where it WON’T be?

Richard Huddleston

West Slaithwaite

Gently, gently ASBO

AFTER numerous alleged incidents (Examiner January 7) that include assaulting a pregnant woman and swearing at police, the best the law can do in the case of Daniel Stephenson is a ban on the very behaviour that put him in front of the magistrate.

It’s hardly surprising these thugs believe they can take on all opponents and win. No doubt, given such leniency in the law, there are junior versions of Daniel going through school who are itching to step into his boots.

And when magistrates can do so little, don’t expect a hard approach to discipline from the teaching profession. Would the cost of applying a soft touch ASBO astonish readers?

Garfi

European vote vital

I WOULD like to add my voice in support of William A Kirby’s letter (Examiner, January 6) hoping for a strong turnout in June’s European elections.

The representatives that your readers choose on June 4 will play an important role in determining the priorities of the European Union over the next five years, on issues as diverse as workplace rights, climate change and tackling cross-border crime – where countries have agreed to work together to find common solutions to common problems.

I will continue to circulate amongst the local press information about events in Brussels and Strasbourg, but for any reader interested in finding out more about my work as one of your MEPs I produce a monthly ebulletin which anyone can sign up to receive from my website: www.lindamcavanmep.org.uk.

There is also a website now up and running to introduce your Labour candidates for June, and general information about the election and how the electoral system works. You can find this site at www.labour4yorkshire.eu.

Anyone who does not have access to the internet can of course contact me in writing at my constituency office in Rotherham.

Linda McAvan

Labour Member of the European Parliament

A paramedic’s response

I AM a paramedic with The Yorkshire Ambulance Service. I do not speak on behalf of the Ambulance Service as I do not have that authority, but personally I do feel that it is unfair that we as an emergency service are lambasted in the local newspaper regarding our response times, it gives the public a distorted view of our service.

Our response times are affected by other factors, and these have to be taken into consideration.

Firstly, in Huddersfield we have many traffic calming measures, like speed humps, traffic islands, one way systems, plus we have a larger volume of traffic on our roads, which combined causes congestion, and no amount of emergency siren and flashing blue lights are going to help other road users to move out of the way when there is nowhere to go.

Secondly, there is another cause for our delay to life threatening emergencies. Some members of the public call for an ambulance for minor injuries, when they could have made their own way to hospital or contacted their GP, and it is these calls that occupy a fully manned paramedic crew who are then unable to get to the more serious calls. This means another crew coming from Halifax, Dewsbury, even Bradford and Wakefield, and it is this in part that has an effect on our response times.

Alan Parkinson

Oakes

Enlightening experience

I AM writing in response to your readers’ comments about strange lights in the sky.

On New Year’s Eve, I had popped outside for a cigarette and my attention was drawn to some fireworks that had been let off early in celebration. It was about 10.30pm.

Having observed the display for a few minutes, I then noticed three orange lights in the sky at about cloud level.

They were in the direction of Lepton, working their way across towards Kirkheaton.

I don’t think they were Chinese lanterns, as they travelled in a right angled formation.

I watched them for about 30 seconds, then I called for my wife to have a look. When she came outside there was only one light left, then that vanished into the clouds.

I have never witnessed anything like this before, and I am sure that they were not anything to do with an aeroplane or helicopter.

Peter Showell

Lepton

No racist chanting thanks

I WAS a bit disappointed to hear a Town fan shouting and muttering racist abuse in the direction of referee Jarnail Singh at the Oldham game.

This so-called fan’s foul mouthed and idiotic comments could be heard by teenagers and younger children in the Fantastic Media stand.

Could racist knuckle-draggers attending the next game please think twice before sharing their bigoted views at 120 decibels?

Andrew Robinson

Huddersfield