Letters - August 5, 2019

We give too much aid to richer nations
MoonMoon
Moon

The amount of foreign aid Britain gives to countries richer than ours is ludicrous. We sent millions of pounds to India this year, and they have spent the same amount on a lunar probe.We send millions to China, who have sent $36bn dollars to Russia since 2000. We are giving money to projects that are not justifiable, while running a massive deficit, and this is money we have to borrow.We can only hope that our new Prime Minister Boris Johnson will adopt a common sense approach. Hopefully, he will reduce our eye-watering commitment so he can spend more at home. When we eventually leave our slave masters in Brussels, we can stop sending them overseas aid cheques for which there are no audit trails, so who knows where they get to?

Terry WatsonAddress supplied

SOCIETYThank you so much Mr Boy BlueThe Good Samaritan Mr Boy Blue (his jumper). Thank-you, thank-you for helping me with my shopping trolley as I was leaving Marks & Spencer Simply food store in St Annes on Saturday, 20 July at 2.45pm.This very kind gentleman assisted me by taking my trolley and shopping, in the most torrential rain and loading it into my car. Then guiding me out of the parking place and finally returning the trolley back to M&S for me.I appreciate so much the spontaneity of his kind actions and would like to take this opportunity to wish him all the very best life has to offer, he deserves it!Jacqui VeazeyBlackpool

POLITICSAbsurd to risk conflict with Iran

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Further to my letter (Your Say, July 29) concerning the seizure of the oil tanker Stena Impero by Iran, I raised the question, what are the economic benefits to the UK of registering this ship as British when it is owned by Sweden, and now that it has been seized by Iran, what are the costs (including the risks) of securing its release? Well, here is the answer to that question, courtesy of a letter written by Captain Edward Waterhouse, of Hambledon, Hants. He is a former ship’s captain who sailed the Gulf. He wrote an article concerning this matter, which was published in the letters section of a UK national newspaper on July 30.Here is an extract from his letter: “All that is needed for a ship to be ‘British’ is an appointed representative who is resident in the UK or an EEA incorporated company with a UK place of business.“Potentially the only thing British is a post box. “To risk conflict with Iran for a so-called British ship is absurd. “The registration fee generates £153 for the British state, plus other minor fees, amounting to less than a couple of thousand pounds. “For this, the ship owner gets the full protection of the Royal Navy and the British state for his multi-million pound asset.”So there we have it - let’s hope this matter will be placed at the top of the In Tray of Ben Wallace MP, our new Defence Secretary, as an item that needs to be looked into most urgently.Mike Gleesonvia email

BREXITWe need to satisfy nation’s lamb needs

With all the talk of how disastrous it will be for the farming industry if we leave the EU with no deal, I am amazed as to how little of our lamb makes its way into the UK food chain.I have travelled through the Yorkshire Dales this summer where the fields and fells are full of sheep, only to find that very few pubs and inns have lamb on the menu. When I have questioned the farmers and those in the livestock sales business I am informed that much of it goes to the continent but at the same time we are importing large amounts from New Zealand.Farmers just shrug their shoulders and reluctantly accept the low market price.Surely if we can get our act together we can satisfy the nation’s lamb requirements from our own stock and with maybe a smaller contribution from New Zealand?Peter JohnstonAddress supplied