Letters - December 31, 2019

Re: Bill Oldcorn’s interesting letter on Dickens and A Christmas Carol (Your Say, Workhouses to Food banks, December 27).

Some of us remember olden times and dire poverty. There was rationing, overcrowded housing and pawn shops. We children never noticed the squalor around us because we were all the same - ‘poor’. Our world was play.

There was the porridge, tripe, ham bone veg soup, bread and dripping.

We lived in one room.

There was no central heating or technology in those days.

But there was a community spirit. A network of women helped each other, some family members lived nearby so food was shared.

There were churches, chapels and other religious benevolent agencies such as the Salvation Army.

Sadly, in later years, communities were destroyed.

We live in a different world today as people are always on the move and one hardly knows next door neighbours.

There is no excuse today for families to live in dire poverty. There are many agencies out there and people willing to help. Those in need just need a signpost to get the right help.

Even schools help children. However, there is a shortage of housing and some areas, such as seaside resorts, have been neglected while cities have prospered.

I have read recently that most major countries in the world have food banks.

Canada is one of the richest. It has so many food banks, it has a National Association of food banks.

People should never feel ashamed of going to food banks and they can also help homeless people.

But there will always be people with social problems and poverty and food banks will always be with us.

We decided not to give a present to each other at Christmas but instead give a few pounds to charities.

Back came thank you letters.

There are many people out there willing to help others and give their time free. Charities are grateful for volunteers and for little donations which help others.

NAME SUPPLIED

Blackpool

Society

Slovenly decline in use of language

Why do the comparative and superlative of the adjective “bad” cause so many problems, even for well-educated people?

The expression “least worst option” is now apparently accepted parlance but is simply wrong; there can only be one worst option: what the communicator means is “the least bad” option.

Conversely, we have “the worse news of all”; a comparative used when the absolute form “worst” is required.

Incidentally, could Twitter and Facebook be responsible for the increase in slovenly language?

How long before “could of” for “could have” becomes acceptable?

Brian H Sheridan

via email

Politics

The cow’s dead... the milk’s gone!

The real problem with the Labour party is that they cannot seem to grasp the fact that if you kill the cow for meat then there will be no more milk. They state that they will tax the rich, forgetting that many of the so-called rich are the country’s wealth producers and their taxation plans would hit those who have saved in a pension funds for their retirement, as indeed I have.

Their blind leftish dogma puts them at odds with many ordinary workers. We have to have leaders who create jobs and wealth, as well as workers to do the actual work, but they just cannot grasp that simple fact.

Peter Hyde

Address supplied

Politics

Is there to be more of Tony Blair?

Following the election, I asked if I might now hear no more from Tony Blair. Predictably, the answer was ‘no’ as he was immediately allowed publicity for his self-important view that Jeremy Corbyn messed up the opportunity to pave the way for a Brexit referendum.

Michael J Robinson

via email

Politics

Labour will always be for working class

I am writing in reply to Dr Barry Clayton’s letter, (Your Say, December 27).

This letter stated various points on his opinions about how politics should move forward, all of which were clearly the comments of a Tory supporter who wants to hold on to power for the foreseeable future.

He tells us that Labour’s comments on austerity, poverty and social injustice over the past 10 years were all lies.

What about the dramatic rise in foodbanks across the country, used by people struggling on benefits AND by low paid workers?

What about zero hours contracts, when you don’t know from one week to the next, exactly how much you will be earning?

He tells us that Labour is now, not the party of the working class. Nonsense. Labour will always be the party of the working class, standing up for equality and against low paid jobs and zero hours contracts.

He states that manifestos should be scrapped because no-one believes them any more. Could that be because the Tories have broken and manipulated their election promises and manifestos for years, so it would be a good idea for them? I would be very confident they would agree to this.

Another point made was, that television debates should also be scrapped, because the arguments are poor and some politicians avoid answering the questions. Brilliant. Get the politicians on tv for a debate and because they can’t or won’t answer the questions, ask them easier questions, they are happy to answer, or better still, don’t bother having a tv debate , then they can always say, ‘well, I wasn’t asked any questions at all, so I had no chance to lie’, just like Boris Johnston did , when he constantly refused to be interviewed by Andrew Neil before the election.

If the good doctor wants a return to ‘Harmony and Honesty’ he would be better off directing his letters to the Tory party. They are the ones who have created an unfair society and the start of the ‘Trump’ style of lies and fake news, which will do this country no good at all, and they will continue to do this for as long as they possibly can.

Name and address supplied