Assaults on emergency service workers and the BBC - here are the letters for June 18, 2019

Emergency workers need more protection

I have heard that assaults on Emergency Service Workers (ESW) are on the increase, this is nothing short of disgusting.

Clearly the new law, namely the Protect the Protectors Bill, which received Royal Assent last year and was introduced to counteract assaults on ESWs, is not having the desired effect.

Therefore, the bill needs a re-think ASAP.

It would appear the main sufferers of assaults are police officers and, having been on the receiving end when the perpetrators were actually sentenced to a holiday at Her Majesty’s pleasure, it also appears such punishments are not necessarily applied with an immediate effect in the current climate.

Anyone assaulting ESWs, especially when intent is involved, should receive an immediate term of imprisonment for no less than six months.

It matters not that they be under the influence of drink or drugs as that cannot, and should not, be used as mitigating circumstances.

To allow such excuses to be tendered by way of a defence would simply be adopting a soft approach towards such assaults, thereby resulting in no support to the ESWs.

The whole situation requires a directive to magistrates from the appropriate office within government, to ensure a mandatory sentence is applied.

Magistrates are, by definition, limited to certain levels of sentencing so, if an offence warrants a longer term of imprisonment, then the matter should be escalated.

That is the only way the ESWs can receive the protection they rightly deserve.

Shaun Kavanagh

via email

BBC

We must speak

out on TV licences

I am one of the four million pensioners who don’t receive pension credits. We, who experienced real austerity post-war, who have worked all our lives, are to be penalised by the imposition of the BBC licence fee. It might be said that we can afford it; perhaps so, after all, we have learned how to save and economise.

The BBC make some good programmes. They also make a lot of dross. On June 11, there were repeats of two antique shows, run-of-the-mill medical dramas, a repeat of Escape to the Country in which couples flaunt their wealth, aided by a well-paid presenter, and a programme in which absurd sums are spent by other presenters on designer gardens. On other days, public school nomads roam the world, usually in sunny climes, with camera crews trailing behind, explaining the intricacies of various cultures. These don’t come cheap.

If we are to stop this tax on savers, we must speak out. I am sure others, drawing on their vast experience, can think of ways to make our presence felt. We might set an example to our grandchildren, and demonstrate that no one, old or young, need countenance unfairness. Remember the 1960s? We can make a difference. Come on, old uns, we’re not dead yet!

G Cooper

Address supplied

BBC

Despicable to take away free licences

I must write to you about the BBC taking away free TV licences for the over 75s - so sad we have come to this in 2019 Britain.

What a disgrace, absolutely despicable - in 2019 what have we come to?

Mr and Mrs Armstrong

Cherry Tree Court

Marton

BBC

Young people don’t watch TV

BBC staff must know their days are numbered. My children choose not to watch TV, just Netflix and YouTube.

Ask anyone under 10 what their favourite TV programme is and they’ll probably look at you blankly. Time to scrap the BBC dinosaur?

charlotte hubbard

North Shore

TRANSPORT

No. 17 bus service not good enough

Temporarily unable to drive and needing to visit a housebound friend in Ansdell, I boarded a No.7 bus on Clifton Drive North only to find it terminated at St Annes Square.

I was advised to take the No 17 bus from near Marks and Spencers.

There were so many people waiting there, all available seating in and around the bus shelter was occupied but I was told I was lucky as the next No. 17 bus was due in five minutes otherwise I could possibly have had half an hour’s wait.

By luck, I didn’t have to wait long on my return journey but a lady at the Woodlands Road stop had been waiting an hour as the previous No. 17 just didn’t turn up.

With so many aged and disabled people in this area this surely isn’t good enough. Can the powers that be possibly rectify this please?

Barbara Sugden

St Annes