Letters - November 8, 2018

Many over-75s are concerned about the proposal that they should pay for a TV licence.

Bearing in mind that we ‘oldies’ are most likely to vote, why would the politicians wish to commit political suicide?

Remember that we’re the 60s generation. We have the ability and time to organise. What are our ‘leaders’ to do when they discover that many of us can’t pay, and more of us won’t? Arrest us all? Chuck us in jail?

If they did, we’d be able to watch programmes for free anyway.

So don’t worry, it’s not going to happen.

The idea will be quietly dropped, and the BBC will have to find some other way of funding the salaries of the ex-public school ‘presenters’, ‘gardeners’, and ‘adventurers’ who didn’t go into politics.

G Cooper

Address supplied

So the BBC is thinking of removing free TV licences for the over-75s. What a travesty this would be.

Many older people rely on TV for companionship, particularly in this day and age when many families live far apart and visit rarely.

Why not take a few thousand pounds from so-called celebrities such as Graham Norton and Gary Lineker?

I’m sure money could easily be made from such modest cuts of enormous salaries without depriving older people of their best friends.

Hilary Andrews

via email

POLITICS

I for one am grateful to Mrs Thatcher

Having heard some derogatory remarks about Lady Thatcher by a group of people, some of whom may live in houses bought by their parents under the right to buy council house scheme, I feel I must try to set the record straight.

The right to buy was introduced to promote private ownership and reduce the reliance of people on the local council for housing. It was designed to help tenants who could not save sufficient deposits to buy a house on the open market, but could afford reasonable mortgage repayments.

It did not affect the council house waiting lists, as the people who bought them were already council tenants.

The loss of rents paid to the council could be broadly offset by the council no longer being responsible for the maintenance on an ever-ageing housing stock. The current shortage of council housing is due to rising demand and local councils’ lack of planning for the future, not Mrs Thatcher.

Critics of Lady Thatcher surely cannot doubt her integrity, courage, and foresight.

She had the foresight to drag the United Kingdom, with the Labour Party and Trade Unions, kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. We all owe her a great debt of gratitude.

Cecil Crinnion

Address supplied

SOCIETY

Ban the private 
sales of fireworks

Please, please, please can we make it so that only organised events have fireworks, and on November 5 only?!

My dog is absolutely terrified of noise and this weekend has been an absolute nightmare.

She has urinated on our carpet and bed because she is that scared.

She has been to the vets.

We have done everything we can think of. We are certainly not alone in this.

We have had bangs going off Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night and now finally Bonfire night itself.

Our nerves are shot at!

What about those with PTSD?

I find it ludicrous in these health and safety obsessed times we live in that anyone can go out and buy such dangerous things as fireworks.

Sam

Via email

SOCIETY

Burglary is a serious crime

Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London, deserves praise for supporting Sara Thornton, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, who said: “I want us to solve more burglaries and bear down on violence before we make more records of incidents that are not crimes.”

I believe that burglary has been treated with astonishing laxity by the authorities in recent times. It has the potential for violent crime and should be treated as such.

Too often have I heard reports of violent attacks, even murder, resulting from “a burglary gone wrong”.

In any case, anyone who has been burgled will confirm it is always a sickening, personal shock.

Brian Sheridan

via email