Letters - October 18, 2016

I was born in 1953 and was looking forward to receiving my state pension, for which I had always worked and paid into for more than 40 years, always working full-time and paying full stamp.

I was expecting to receive my state pension in 2013, but I now I have to wait a further five years, to 2018, to receive it, so I’m still working part-time.

My sister was born in 1952 and had to wait only 18 months to receive her pension – I was born in 1953 and have to wait a further three years for mine, where is the fairness in that?

Those of us born in the 1950s were not told about the changes to state pensions earlyenough, it was just thrown at us, leaving woman of that era to either carry on working, or struggle to manage, if through ill health or caring for their elderly parents, they have had to stop working and can’t make ends meet.

I normally wouldn’t let things get to me, but in this case it has really angered me having to wait another five years for the money that I have paid into the system for over 40 years.

Mrs Lesley Arrowsmith

South Shore

Blackpool

ENERGY

Regulation mistakes are a real concern

We are often told that the UK regulation of oil and gas is the best in the world, and that this ‘best in the world’ regulation will apply to fracking.

Last week alone, some 95 tonnes of oil leaked into the North Sea from a BP platform due to a technical issue, and a survey conducted on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency reveals that UK offshore oil and gas platforms reported a total of 601 accidental releases of oil and chemicals in 2014. This is an increase of 14.5 per cent on 2013, and the numbers are continuing to rise.

One is tempted to say ‘If this is the best, I pity the rest of the world’, however the issue is whether this is due to a failure of regulation, or failure of monitoring, or is simply a case of ‘what the eye doesn’t see’ ?

Wherever the blame lies, it is not reassuring news for the residents of Preston New Road and the Fylde.

Lancashire County Council said ‘no to Fracking’ for many reasons, including concerns such as these, and it demonstrates exactly why County Coun Marcus Johnstone has urged the government “to do more to address the concerns of local communities and the councillors who represent them, by supporting the best environmental controls.”

Preston New Road Action Group

POST

Royal Mail service 
is failing to deliver

I am 80 now, but in my younger days I applied for a costs clerk job at a Blackpool office.

Six or more months later I had a reply offering me a job interview, but too late! The postmark on the envelope showed a local postmark, also Australia and New Zealand. I showed the company the envelope, needless to say I didn’t get the job!

Another time, 2003 we spent Christmas in Germany. A card sent from a main post office in Rudesheim to our address never came.

Yet an Italian friend I made in Napoli sent me a letter simply addressed “Rosa, Blackpool.” Yes, it really did arrive. Our postman knew I had a few foreign letters and thought it might be me.

Rose Morley

Blackpool

POLITICS

It was greed that wrecked economy

There is a need to explain more to Bernard Derbyshire regarding his letter (Your Say, Gazette, October 13) as he is unable to understand my questions to Theresa May regarding the decline in living standards through austerity.

The answer, of course, to his comment there was ‘no money left’ in the Treasury in 2010 was due to the dislocations in the foreign exchange swap markets between the US dollar and major European companies. This complex picture is associated with the subprime mortgage scandal that gave credit for mortgages that borrowers could not service. After the failure of Lehman brothers in 2008, credit worthiness of more investment banks were affected. This was consistent with the deepening of the US dollar liquidity problem, making it a global financial crisis, as banks in Britain collapsed.

In 2008 Lehman brothers filed for bankruptcy with a $639bn debt, the largest in history. Its collapse was catastrophic, having 25,000 employees worldwide. We then had the collapse of Northern Rock, which had been involved with subprime mortgages affecting major investment banks.

The UK was not exempt from a run on the banks. Many UK investments were affected, particularly our pension funds. It soon proved that the banks had been negligent in their investment capital dealings and subsequent cover ups.

Within the banking crisis it was necessary to protect pension funds and bail out some banks to save the economy and these investments. The cause was justifiable, although the Conservatives sought wrongly for political motives to condemn the Labour Government.

So, Mr Derbyshire, I hope you can appreciate that it was the greedy bankers that wrecked the world economy.

Marjorie Nye

Knowle Avenue

Blackpool

EUROPE

We should finalise our EU divorce now

With regard to the oft-trundled out “Brexit means Brexit” phrase, June 23, 2016, was divorce day. Divorcees are not forced to co-habit for three years after decree nisi, so what is going on behind closed doors?

Brexit means out now.

Trev Bromby

via email