Letters - Friday February 19, 2021

Captain Sir Tom Moore raised almost £33m for NHS charities despite being almost 100 and in poor health.

The horrific internet trolling of him that has been revealed by one of his daughters is sickening and disgusting. It is further evidence that our society contains some very sick, nasty people who get a kick out of hurting others. So bad was the trolling that his daughters kept it from him.

The advent of social media was described over five years ago by Professor Alan Jefferies, a leading American scientist, as: “pernicious, dangerous and something that will gradually undermine the very fabric of society”.

No truer words have been spoken. It is eating away daily at our society while at the same time revealing that in it reside some very loathsome and repellent creatures.

The sooner firmer legal action is taken to prevent despicable internet trolling the better. Statistics and many recent cases indicate that some people’s lives are being made a misery; some are being driven to suicide.

Those who indulge in foul trolling should be named, shamed and punished severely.

Dr Barry Clayton

Thornton Cleveleys

Society

‘Chest feeding’ is PC nonsense

So, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals is to become the first NHS trust to use gender-neutral language “to ensure that all groups are represented”.

Such terms as “breastfeeding” could become “chestfeeding” and “breast milk” be changed to “human milk”, which they call the “additive use of gender-inclusive language”.

What utter politically correct nonsense.

Isn’t it time to tell such organisations not to be so ridiculous, and instead just get on with their important core work?

April 1 seems to have come far too early in Sussex.

Bob Watson

via email

virus

Help support our Children in Crisis

More and more vulnerable children and young people are feeling the effects of repeated lockdowns, uncertainty and isolation. The impact of the second wave is pushing a generation of the most vulnerable children in our country into a downward spiral of deprivation.

We at Barnardo’s are asking people to donate what would have been the cost of their usual daily commute or coffee to support these children and their families, so they can deal with the immediate challenges they are facing today.

We can support them with vital things, like putting food on the table, paying for heating and electricity (especially in the recent very cold temperatures), affording data so children can keep up with school online, and having access to counselling as children and young people all across the country are struggling with their mental health.

A week’s worth of coffees could mean a week’s worth of food for a child. With your help, we can deliver the practical and emotional support families in crisis need.

You can help by supporting our Children in Crisis Appeal today via Barnardo’s Just Giving Page www.justgiving.com/campaign/donateyourdailycommute.

Steve Oversby

Barnardo’s

Brexit

The harshest of all Brexits

As the reality of Brexit becomes painfully obvious, not many people seem to be aware of the economic and political crisis that is occurring.

The people of Northern Ireland are suffering the consequence of a border in the Irish Sea; Amsterdam has overtaken London as Europe’s largest share-trading centre and businesses which depend upon imports and exports are literally collapsing under the weight of the paperwork. All of this is accompanied by a deafening silence from its main instigator, the Conservative Party and, shamefully, Labour.

We have the harshest of possible Brexits because the Tories insisted that leaving the EU would enable the UK to enter the best of all possible worlds. Every promise they made has turned to ashes in their mouths, but there seems to be some sort of pact of silence between the Government, the Opposition and sections of the media. Could this be that under the terms of Boris Johnson’s “fantastic deal” there is absolutely nothing that anyone can do?

John Prance

via email