Letters - July 6, 2016

For example, there was the driver who was four times over the limit driving his Bentley 100 yards down the road, who said he had been reported because of jealousy about his car, and the Octopus porn trial.

The one, however, that I found the most strange was the one about the tram link to enable Fleetwood residents to get right to Blackpool North Station. The money is to be spent on this link despite road users, especially taxi drivers, dreading the traffic problems it may cause, and the fact that Blackpool does not have a central bus station, which I think would be of much more use.

The Department of Transport didn’t come along and say here’s £22 million you need for a tram link for the people of Fleetwood, surely? It must have been applied for by the council.

Ease of transfer between different bus routes would be a better way of spending the money. It would benefit all of the Fylde coast’s public transport users.

Jeff Banks

Public Transport User

ENVIRONMENT

A discarded match may spark inferno

Hopefully, Blackpool must be in for a prolonged dry spell soon, and I wonder whether our intrepid councillors have considered this? One carelessly discarded cigarette end or miscreants with matches, and swathes of tinder-dry grass will become a mass of flames.

No doubt this has been risk-assessed, and the cost of damages and compensation considered less than the savings made.

Let’s just hope nobody is trapped inside a burning building while the Fire Brigade is putting out grass fires!

Jimmylad

Pedders Lane

Blackpool

BEGGING

Where is the will to stop this problem?

Litter is a major problem in Blackpool, but begging on the streets is still a problem. I understand it is illegal, but where is the enforcement?

Directly opposite Debenhams and close to the Winter Gardens, a beggar has set up shop in an empty doorway in what appears to be a permanent basis. Should our visitors be subjected to this ?

This is not the image we need, and it should not be allowed. There should be a a fast action telephone number to stop this anti-social behaviour.

Name and address supplied

POLITICS

There will be no snap election... it’s the law

Dr Barry Clayton’s letter states that ‘a new Tory leader will call a snap election in the Autumn’ (Your Say, Gazette, July 1).

The coalition government of 2010 – 2015 passed a law introducing fixed term governments, and the next election will take place in May 2020 unless there is an Act of Parliament to reverse the law.

Historically the Prime Minister did have the power to decide the election date. This power disappeared in 2010.

Peter Whitehead

Poulton Road

Layton

HEALTH

We need a new Elvis to raise awareness

Following the development of the new Salk Polio vaccine, Elvis Presley, then at the peak of his powers in 1956, was asked to become a figurehead for Polio vaccination. By agreeing to be vaccinated in front of the press, he instantly spread awareness of the disease and it’s potentially deadly consequences.

Now, 50 years later, the Polio movement needs another ‘Elvis moment’ to confront Post Polio Syndrome (PPS).

While Polio remains a problem, there were just 74 cases worldwide in the last year. With the war against Polio close to being won, it is now time for PPS’s ‘Elvis moment’.

A lack of recognition and awareness is causing serious problems for people living with a condition that affects 120,000 people in the UK alone. With symptoms including fatigue, muscle pain, cold intolerance, and breathing difficulties, PPS is always painful and often life-altering. Yet with just 55 per cent of doctors able to diagnose the condition, many patients are failing to receive the help that could significantly improve their lives.

In the absence of an Elvis-like figurehead to spread the word of PPS, The British Polio Fellowship has produced a guide entitled Post Polio Syndrome: A guide to management for health care professionals. You can get a copy for free on our website or by calling us.

For more information about The British Polio Fellowship or to get support living with PPS, contact us at www.britishpolio.org.uk or on 0800 043 1935.

Ted Hill MBE

CEO, The British Polio Fellowship

POLITICS

Labour have picked the wrong manager

Sorry Jeremy, the selectors who chose you as the Labour Manager misjudged how most of the team you picked from never wanted to play for you.

Now they have retired to the dressing room, even some of the recent second eleven have also left the field. The old club side Jeremy played for, Socialism, was taken over by a manager named Blair. His team players morphed into a bland SDP-type of side.

They wear the same strip, but have a different formation.

If a manager cannot field a team, he cannot play the match. Sorry Jeremy, but the worse type of support is pity.

Denis Lee

via email