Letters - November 5, 2018

The recent Budget shows the utter contempt the Government has shown for the safety and security of the public.

The Budget did not provide a single penny for police forces, who are facing huge demand, record reported crime and 21,000 fewer officers.

They just offered another ‘review’. It’s not rocket science, crime goes up when we have fewer police on our streets.

Our town is a hotspot for many types of crime and it is a bleak reflection of the Government’s police cuts that hearing about car break-ins every week has become the norm.

Every time I raise the issue of police cuts, the Tories say Lancashire Police has enough funding.

But the facts speak for themselves. MP Paul Maynard’s support for Tory cuts is a disgrace and an insult to the people of our community.

A future Labour Government will put 10,000 more police officers on our streets paid for by reversing Conservative cuts to capital gains tax.

As your local candidate I understand what our MP and the Tories refuse to acknowledge: you can’t keep people safe on the cheap.

Chris Webb

Labour’s Parliamentary
Candidate for Blackpool North and Cleveleys

SOCIETY

Clever pigeon 
was no bird brain

I had quite a long wait at a railway station and spent much of the time in the glass waiting room with automatic sliding doors.

During this time, I noticed that a pigeon had got in and assumed it had done so opportunistically when the doors had opened for a passenger to enter.

I watched it and it seemed to go quite systematically up and down the rows of seats, picking up crumbs and other bits of food dropped by people while sitting there eating.

At one point, it fluttered up on to a seat where there was a fairly substantial piece of what looked like cake, and quickly devoured it.

I assumed that, once it realised there was no more food to be had, it would find itself trapped in the room, there to be found perhaps by overnight cleaners who would have difficulty evicting it.

How wrong I was!

Having decided there was no more food and it was time to move on, the bird approached the double sliding doors squarely in the middle, the sensor above it picked up the movement, the doors opened and out it went!

Clearly it knew exactly what it was doing, from its systematic circuit of the seats looking for food to its opening of the door to get out.

I wonder if it is part of the bird’s daily routine.

It certainly lifted my opinion of the mental abilities of pigeons somewhat.

L A Pickering

Address supplied

HEALTH

Is the NHS ageist
... why the test?
I was recently admitted to Stafford Hospital for routine surgery.

The care was excellent but there was one thing that upset me. The admission process contained a cognition test.

When I queried this with the nurse she stated that it was because I was over 65 and they had to do it on all people who reach 65.

I did the test for her and then explained that I was working as a nursing home manager and was registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council who obviously thought I was fit enough for work.

Is this a new part of the NHS?

Are they presuming that over 65s are on the rocky road to dementia and diseases.

Did Prince Philip have to do this test when he went in for his recent surgery?

Is the NHS ageist?

Marion Gourlay

Blackpool

POLITICS

I totally agree with 
airport comments

I would just like to say that I 100 per cent agree with Coun Tony Williams regarding Blackpool Airport.

It should be developed and made so that airlines want to come back.

Let’s face it, Manchester is struggling to cope with the demand.

I’m sure a lot of people would prefer to use Blackpool instead of the cattle market they call Manchester Airport.

I know I would.

So come on Blackpool Council, ignore this useless report and give us our airport back.

Wilf Greaves

Bispham