Letters - June 29, 2016

'˜Nana' is being used as martyr to cause
Tina Rothery at Blackpool County Court. The anti-fracking protestor is being sued by landowners backed by fracking company Cuadrilla over a three week protest on farmland earmarked for test  fracking near Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.Tina Rothery at Blackpool County Court. The anti-fracking protestor is being sued by landowners backed by fracking company Cuadrilla over a three week protest on farmland earmarked for test  fracking near Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.
Tina Rothery at Blackpool County Court. The anti-fracking protestor is being sued by landowners backed by fracking company Cuadrilla over a three week protest on farmland earmarked for test fracking near Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.

I read the recent article you published regarding Ms Rothery and her personal crusade against the UK fracking industry.

It appears that she (and the protestors who are allowing her to take the fall for them), is attempting to be a martyr for their cause by breaking the UK laws, and then criticising them when prosecuted, with a protest based on myths rather than scientific facts.

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I have no doubt that any business, that had been subjected to a loss of income due to an illegal protest, would seek to recoup their losses in some way.

If Ms Rothery wanted to avoid this she could have refused to give her name (like the other protestors did). The very fact that she was naive enough not to do this speaks volumes.

It seems to be a recurring theme with protest groups that they utilise people like Ms Rothery to achieve some form of publicity, and then abandoned them to their fate.

Unfortunately, Ms Rothery and her band of nanas are, like many of the over-50s in England, extremely gullible, as the Brexit vote has proved.

Name and address supplied

We need to have a general election

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The behaviour of politicians in the EU debate was disgusting. The back-stabbing of recent days has confirmed that most of the existing politicians are unfit to run anything more than a public toilet.

I voted to leave to shake up the rotten system, and that seems to be happening. Labour are in a mess and they need to agree a deal and a pact with the Greens, Liberal Democrats, Welsh Nationalists and SNP.

All must demand a General Election to seek public approval for a Norway Plus deal with Europe. Our friends in Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden will back us up. We must have control over the numbers and type of people that can move to England.

All must agree a short list of tasks for a short 18-month parliament. The best way to get rid of all the dead wood politicians,is with the Irish STV election system 18 months later.

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Agreeing the pact details in the 60 constituencies that decide General Elections will be very difficult. But if Labour are unwilling or unable to compromise on these details, they will lose all credibility and power for decades.

Steven Bate

Ashfield Road

Our broken system is in need of a fix

Many people across the UK will feel a profound sense of shock after last week’s referendum result. But we must acknowledge that while a lot of the population are discontent with the way Europe functions, many people are angry with the state of our own democracy; it is clear that our own broken system is also in desperate need of a fix.

For example, we urgently need to reform our electoral system to make it proportional and representative. Campaigning for electoral reform for our local and general elections will be one of the first priorities for Greens in the post-referendum landscape.

We need to heal the divisions created by the referendum; uniting around a campaign for putting our own house in order could help to do that.

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We must also be on our guard. Some leading Leave campaigners are climate sceptics and believe that laws and regulations that safeguard workers’ rights and protect the environment are simply ‘red tape’ preventing business competitiveness.

Greens will need to mobilise alongside the Trade Unions, environmental groups and others to defend our hard-won rights at work and environmental protections.

However we voted last week, there will also be some new opportunities for change. For example, with no EU laws on state aid, it should be easier for local councils to use local businesses to provide more of their services.

Gina Dowding

Co-ordinator North Lancashire Green Party

Leaving green waste is still fly-tipping

Is this a sign of things to come?

A few days ago, when my gardener was pulling up my spent bluebells, I told him to carry on using my gardening bin as I have already paid my £25 fee for collection to continue.

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A man pushing a red bin was walking nearby, pushing his bin down the path from Scorton Avenue on to Grange Road and across to Kingscote Park, where he tipped his rubbish on the park.

Kingscote Park is already looking neglected and unkempt without this sort of thing.

Maybe the council should reinstate the cameras on Grange Road and instead of trapping speeding motorists with the tippers and fine them.

Name and address supplied

appeal

Can you help find the station master?

Can you please help? I am trying to trace the station master Mr Spencer who worked with me at Thornton Cleveleys Railway Station in the 1960s. If any of my workmates or family read this, please write to me at the address below.

Alex Cowie

5 Milnescroft Court

Fochabers

Moray

Scotland

IV32 7HQ

Thanks to the good Samaritan on bus

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Many thanks to the kind person who handed in my purse from the number 9 bus to Cleveleys – late afternoon, June 21.

Unfortunately I do not have a name or address to express my heartfelt gratitude.

Sybil Radford

Blackpool

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