IT IS shocking that tenants, who have worked hard all their lives, find themselves facing an uncertain and frightening future because they cannot find the extra rent forced on them by the ‘bedroom tax.’

People who until this year, have never been in rent arrears, are now finding it impossible to find the extra money – sometimes as much as £120 a month.

It is tipping some people over the edge.

Why should someone who has never been able to buy a house, be less secure than someone who has been more fortunate?

What sense does this make to anyone but a cruel and callous government whose only purpose is to deflect attention from their pro-rich policies?

We know that councils are beginning to get together to call for this tax to be scrapped.

Kirklees Council is among them.They know it is grossly unfair and unworkable and in the long run, that is likely to cost councils far more than they can afford.

We urge Kirklees Council to do whatever it can to resist the ‘bedroom tax’, to refuse to evict anyone in rent arrears because of the tax and be ready to use powers to safeguard social housing tenants in a situation that is bringing misery on the poorest.

We know that the government is encouraging people to blame the poor for a crisis caused by the rich.

Social housing tenants on benefit are not to blame for the housing crisis.

In the longer term, the solution is to build more social housing.

Kirklees Axe the Tax is organising a local meeting for social housing tenants at the Chestnut Centre on Monday July 8 at 7.30pm.

We hope to have speakers from the Leeds Hands Off Our Homes Campaign.

We want to organise a strong campaign in Kirklees.

If you are interested in finding out more please contact kirkleesaxethetax@gmail.com or find us on facebook at Kirklees Axe the Tax

June Jones

Kirklees Axe The Tax

Curry night, Denis?

I HAVE it on good authority that the ducting connecting the man holes (Gas blast blows covers off 11 manholes, Examiner, June 19) was traced to Honley and it was Denis Kilcommons’ curry night!

Authorities are looking into it!

Peter k Garside

Slaithwaite

Pothole problems

I’M very concerned because outside our house people park on the opposite side of the road and as such the actual road gets a lot of traffic which has caused it to be full of pot holes.

I have seen two near accidents as car wheels get stuck and it causes the cars to nearly mount the pavements.

I fear that there will be an accident very soon. Anyone walking on the pavement could be hit by the cars that mount the pavements.

We reported the state of the road two and a half years ago and again a month ago and they said they would come out but they still haven't.

Mrs D Hallas

Newsome

Cashless society?

HAVING read in Mailbag (June 19) the comment from ‘Theoldalmonburian’ with regards to cash going unknowingly out of his/her accounts via bank cards, clearly it appears to be a form of scamming.

Plenty of folk and in particular the elders have no desire to have/use bank cards and prefer to have cash on them to spend on their bills and shopping, living alongside the old adages of ‘cash is king’ and ‘If you ain’t got it you can’t spend it’.

What has to be highlighted here is that without hard cash and a dependence on bank cards and internet banking then others can have it for their use, illuminating the fact that you don’t have total control over your wealth with just bank cards and online banking, and never would in a cashless society which cannot be dismissed.

Just like government agendas have discreetly led us into the EU without choice – be it Lib Dem/Labour/Conservative,banks are doing the same – one strips you of your identity and the other of total control of your cash.

Mr Corcoran

Lockwood

That explains it

ANDREW Doran (Mailbag, June 20) asks for an explanation of the armed forces still recruiting when also making thousands redundant.

This explanation covers it I think: “British Army spokesman Major General James Chiswell told a television news channel. ‘It’s a hard day, no organisation likes to go through redundancy but it’s been done, I think, as fairly as we could hope for,” and said a lot of care had gone into designing the redundancy programme.

Commenting on the recent recruitment drive, coming just weeks before job cuts, he said: “As any organisation we need to maintain a certain shape, certainly within the army.

“We can’t just recruit our leaders,” he said. “You need to grow them from within.

“As the normal outflow of people leaving, and added to that redundancies, it’s really important to us as an army that we continue to bring on people at the bottom to keep the shape going in the years ahead.”

Markham Weavill

Linthwaite

Better behaved

THANK YOU, Messrs Burns-Williamson and Gilmore, and thank you, British Transport Police, for responding so promptly to the Real Ale Trail problem.

In my letter last week I called for 'action now' and that's exactly what Marsden got!

However, I hope the troublemakers don't simply shift to Slaithwaite or Huddersfield; time will tell. And I still think that Leeds station needs to be more tightly policed on Saturdays.

I don’t know when I’ll next be at Leeds station on a Saturday tea-time, but when I am, I hope to see less drunkenness and better behaviour.

William A Kirby

Netherton

Tough on motorists

THE Local Government Association reckons there’s a £10.5b backlog of road repairs (Examiner, June 20).

This represents the motoring-related taxes that we will pay between now and about the end of September.

Yes, motorists are still being ripped off.

Richard Huddleston

West Slaithwaite