Letters - April 11, 2017

This comes years after choosing them as the healthier option and we are told that traditional heart disease risk foods are based on ‘flawed data’ going on to explain that cheese and dairy products are good for us but to keep off potatoes, wheat, cereals and rice we’ve been consuming for centuries.

One has to agree with Sue Berry (Gazette, April 8 ‘Stop telling us what to eat and drink’) when we are constantly told one thing about certain foods then years later so-called experts state what we’ve believed to be correct is actually wrong.

Only recently another expert reported that we don’t consume enough salt and by lowering quantities we’re not getting enough!

So what’s next, smoking is a protective factor against heart disease?

Or eat as much foods containing saturated fat as we can because it doesn’t harm us after all?

We must surely come to the conclusion that these so-called experts on foods that could supposedly harm us or are good for us is piffle!

Clifford Chambers

Ashton road

Blackpool

FRACKING

People to blame are the anti frackers

The inverted logic of Simon Drury in his recent opinion article ‘Is price of protest too high for police’ is simply breathtaking.

The people to blame for this scenario are the anti frackers who do not appear to understand that Cuadrilla are legally entitled to develop the site at Great Plumpton, subject to the planning regulations, and this means they and their sub contractors are entitled to unrestricted access to the site.

The policing costs, brought about by the irresponsible attitude of a few protesters, who do not live in the area, would be dramatically reduced if a few or the protesters were prosecuted and forced to contribute to the cost of policing their anti-social behaviour.

Everybody has the right to peaceful protest but the delays caused to commuters and local companies caused by the current level of interruption at Great Plumpton is a clear restraint of trade suffered by businesses and should be addressed by all the authorities.

With regard to costs, it should be borne in mind the high potential income in local taxes, if fracking proves to be viable, not to mention the opportunities that would be created for direct and sub contract employment.

Fylde is blessed with high tech career opportunities and the prospect of employment, in diverse industries such as shale exploration, should not be squandered by outsiders in our communities creating bad publicity and scenes of public disorder which detract from the general perception that Blackpool and Fylde are good places to do business.

Finally, to answer Simon’s question directly, yes, the price of redirecting our precious police resources from crime prevention and protecting our local streets is too high a price to pay and we should be encouraging our new Chief Constable to direct our police officers away from Preston New Road and back into our communities.

Bernard Whittle OBE

Via email

EUROZONE

We were so right to vote for Brexit

We all know that tragedies - terrorist and otherwise - are unfolding every day but one country it is easy to overlook in terms of terrible hardship is Greece.

The country is partway through its third eurozone bailout programme and it has come as no surprise to anyone that it has not gone smoothly. It has been teetering on the brink of economic collapse for so long that most people in this country scarcely give it a thought.

The on-going financial crisis has ruined the lives of tens of thousands of ordinary people and while politicians and finance chiefs bicker, residents of the land, famed for being the cradle of Western civilisation, struggle to get by.

The future does not look good for Greece and its plight highlights why we were so right in the UK to vote for Brexit and why not joining the eurozone was an immensely sensible decision for us.

The EU loves nothing more than meddling in the affairs of its member states, regardless of whether that is best for that country.

All that is important to the Eurocrats is that their beloved European Union project continues and to hell with the wishes and needs of those living in the various member countries.

Paul 
Nuttall

UKIP North West MEP

WELFARE

Impressed with care at Grand National

I was very impressed with the way the Grand National horse race at Aintree in Liverpool was organised.

The start of the race with the line up went well, but the best of all, the horses were treated with respect at the end of the race. The jockeys dismounted and the saddles taken off immediately, the horses were watered down and led away.

The jockeys continued on foot, a great outcome for all concerned especially for animal rights.

EB Warris

Via email