Letters - February 6, 2017

The new white lights that are appearing in our area without any local consultation are at best not fit for purpose and at worst positively dangerous for people out and about after dark. The harsh shadows that they cast hide a multitude of sins; is that an innocent fallen leaf on the pavement or something more sinister left behind by an anti social dog walker?

It is now almost impossible to distinguish between the two and some paving flags are quite uneven and could result in a serious fall. This could mean a compensation claim against the local authority for their lack of maintenance.

What presumably began as an economic measure to reduce their power bill could prove to be a legal millstone around their necks.

If this is a trial then all well and good and hopefully in due course good sense will prevail. If however it is to be a permanent state of affairs then I and many other residents in the Heyhouses area will be most unhappy.

Perhaps a representative of the Street Lighting Department could comment.

Moral: the new does not always Trump the old!!

Martin 
Guest

Address supplied

COUNCIL

LCC must have 
lowest electric bill

I logged on to the Lancashire County Council website this evening to report a streetlight fault/missing in Witton Avenue in Fleetwood.

LCC must have the lowest electric bill of any county, given the outages reported. Shame the site wouldn’t let me point out the lack of a streelight could cause an injury to those out walking. Wonder how long it takes health and safety to get a lightbulb repaired or a torn carpet mended in the LCC offices?

Given the total repairs required in Lancashire I don’t hold out much hope for our little old road...!

Dave Smith

Via email

TRUMP

Sign petition to 
welcome president

Nasty people are subjecting our beloved Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May to embarrassment by trying to get a foreign state visit by the president of the USA banned by petition.

True Brits are better than this.

Where were these numpties when Obama banned Iraqi people from the USA? What did they do when Obama named the seven states in the Middle East that required enhanced travel checks.... the same ones that Trump has agreed to.

For all Trumps faults, 20 people per minute are signing this alternative petition in the UK.

Your country needs you.... 
it is already guaranteed a debate in Parliament.... pass it on.... https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/178844

Name and address supplied

TRUMP

Foreign liberals no longer hold sway

In the 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump was clear on what he would do if elected.

This seems to have been ignored or disregarded by Hillary Clinton-backing (non-voting) liberals here, assuming that she would win.

She lost.

President Trump was explicit in saying that he wanted to cut back drastically on migration. He was also explicit on putting America first and migration slashing fits into this.

He is certainly not going to let foreign, outside, non voting liberals change his mind.

Michael 
O’Sullivan

Via email

TRUMP

How far will they go to eliminate threat?

Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic presidency has done nothing to alleviate fears that the guy is little more than a bully, a misogynist and a racist. Much has been made of Trump not being a ‘politician’ and for many that was the big attraction. Politician’s lie, Trump apparently does not, despite being caught-out time and time again…..lying.

Trump may not be your bog-standard politician, but his highly abrasive and authoritarian approach to Mexico, Iran and now Australia is deeply worrying in itself, and arguably sets the tone for the rest of his presidency.

His temporary travel ban upon seven predominantly Muslim countries was also largely predictable, being little more than a glorified PR stunt aimed at appeasing his own support base, and playing upon a fear of Islamic terrorism that arguably has a huge bearing on his popularity.

Trump finds ‘threats’ everywhere, and research finds that non-authoritarians respond to the perception of ‘threat’ by behaving more authoritarian themselves. In this way, Trump’s brand of authoritarianism becomes highly appealing.

However, one has to wonder how far Trump’s supporters will go to eliminate a ‘threat’ that may not actually exist.

Name and address supplied

JOHN HURT

A talented actor who will be much missed

I was so sad to hear of the death of John Hurt. He was one of our most talented actors and his wonderfully distinct gravelly voice will be much missed.

Janet 
Berry

Address supplied