Letters - June 27, 2017

Well I did, I remember the austerity under Thatcher’s right wing ideology that crippled this country, from which we have never recovered. This is some of the dark history of Conservative ideology that runs like thick soup through their carotid arteries.

What did Britain’s first woman Prime Minister achieve for us?

Proposing that there is “no such thing as society”, unemployment shot up to levels not seen since the Great Depression. In the 1970s, manufacturing accounted for 20.57 per cent of UK GDP. It declined during the 1980s. She may have been our first woman prime minister but men still ended her decade being paid a lot more.

Then the rise of the house price economy, sparked by Thatcher’s sale of council houses. Interest rates rose to record levels of 17 per cent and repossessions of houses peaked with home-buyers taken to court. Poverty went up from 1979, with 13.4 per cent of the population living below 60 per cent of median incomes before housing costs. By 1990, it had gone up to 22.2 per cent, or 12.2m people, with huge rises in the mid-1980s; homelessness increased.

The mid eighties also saw the miners’ strike, privatisation, and poll tax, which saw riots with families, plunged further into poverty. Ironically for a prime minister who focused so much on family life, the 1980s saw the end of the traditional family unit for many.

Perhaps the young are better educated in politics than Dorothy; but if Corbyn is a Communist - which I very much doubt - perhaps the millions who support him should be given a chance to create a fairer society!

Marjorie Nye

Knowle Avenue 
North Shore

HEALTH

Why can’t nurses have free meals?

I have just spent several days in Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Ward 39 in the Cardiac Centre.

I was impressed by all the staff, who always made time for the patients on this very busy ward, also assisting each other with a smile, a very nice atmosphere.

It was a clean ward as well. Food nice and tasty - I enjoyed it.

Why can’t nursing staff have free meals to supplement their low pay, as with patients leaving or not hungry, a lot of food is left on trolleys.

Mike Wilson

St Annes

APPEAL

Take part in The Big Stitch for charity

If you want to stand out from the fashion crowd, improve your sewing skills or just want a fun way to raise money for charity, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has the perfect solution.

I’m calling on all keen and novice sewers to take part in The Big Stitch this July by heading to your nearest BHF shop, buying an item and injecting your own fashion flair to it by practicing sewing and dressmaking skills.

Every item bought and re-vamped throughout July will bring us one step closer to ending the devastation caused by heart disease. Every year, heart and circulatory disease kills around 18,000 in the North West and currently, 843,600 people in the region are living with its burden so the need to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat these terrible conditions is more urgent than ever.

What’s more, if you post your ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture on social media throughout July, tagging the BHF on Twitter, Instagram or on the BHF’s Facebook page and using the hashtag #TheBigStitch, you will be in with a chance of winning a Special Night Out at a London West End show with YouTube sensation, Just Jodes for you and a friend.

With around 750 BHF shops nationwide, join thousands of style seekers across the UK, all while learning invaluable skills and helping the BHF fund life saving research into heart disease.

For more information on The Big Stitch and to find your nearest BHF shop visit bhf.org.uk/TheBigStitch

Julie Clegg

British Heart Foundation

TRANSPORT

On-going situation 
is not acceptable

I have the misfortune to use the A6 Garstang Road north of Preston quite frequently and must say the civil engineering contractors chosen to carry out this prestigious project are unbelievably disorganised.

The project has been going on for 15 months (three months overdue) and after at least 20 different traffic management systems one is in place to construct the second half of the main A6 roundabout which is nearing completion at long last.

We arrived in January 2017 with half a roundabout constructed so it was abundantly obvious what would follow in the spring to summer period, yes, a traffic management system yet again.

The organisation of the traffic management is pathetically poor with no consideration whatsoever for the road user with total gridlock twice a day and gridlocked all day.

I do trust that Lancashire County Council is monitoring the performance of the company, being the contract is now approximately six months overdue, and they are not included on any future select list of contractors as this performance is totally unacceptable.

Look down the road a little further to the Heysham M6 link this was a real feat of engineering.

John Slater

via email