Letters - Saturday November 7 2020

The extension of the furlough scheme will be welcomed by businesses that have been urging Government to provide longer-term clarity on the support available to them.

Meeting costs is, however, only part of the problem for businesses that urgently need to drive income also. The extension of furlough must not make it a fait accompli that the UK is now in for a lengthy lockdown and every effort must be made nationally and locally to re-open economies and to allow businesses to safely and profitably trade.

Finally, whilst some additional measure have been announced to support the self-employed, this could go further.

Similarly, an unresolved issue is the lack of support available to directors of limited companies, I would urge the Chancellor to urgently produce a plan to help those businesspeople that, thus far, have not been eligible for support.

Dan Fell

address supplied

The furlough extension will be very welcome news for many as we go into a second national lockdown and should go a long way to protecting many thousands of viable jobs in the North, avoiding the impending cliff edge of unemployment in a few weeks’ time.

However, just as critical will be a Northern Economic Recovery Plan to create more jobs and promote economic growth in the long-term, led by businesses and Metro Mayors here in the north west.

Henri Murison

Director, Northern Powerhouse Partnership

Politics

Who is going to condemn Trump?

Take back control was the mantra of the Tory Brexiteers. The Presidential election has exposed the falsity of that claim. Trump’s lying claims of winning the election, before the verdict is ratified, was on a par with tin pot or totalitarian regimes. Despite this, no one could be found within our craven government to condemn his actions. Had claims of this nature occurred in countries such as China, Boris and all of his Cabinet would have filled the air waves with condemnation.

Denis Lee

Ashton

Bonfire night

Make an example of firework louts

The imposition of lockdown rules, before the nationwide clampdown, has not deterred the sale – and ignition – of fireworks at all times of night and day in my area for days.

Not only should use of fireworks be prohibited, unless at an organised display (thankfully not possible this year), but I suspect their detonation is attracting gatherings of significant numbers of people.

Andrew Mercer

via email

Christmas

We can’t pass the virus on to family

I can’t believe so many people are saying “family first” when it comes to Christmas.

Of course family comes first, and we all want to be with them at Christmas, but how would these people feel if, as a result of spending time together, those precious family members end up with Covid-19?

My son and his wife, living in London, have both caught it, despite never using the Underground or the bus. They either walk or cycle everywhere and are generally very fit and work from home.

My son is now in hospital and has been on an oxygen mask and antibiotics for a week. The only symptom he had was a bad headache for seven days. It was only when he contacted the doctor and had his oxygen level measured that the full extent of the illness was diagnosed.

The headache had been caused by a chest infection/pneumonia, which meant he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to his brain.

He’s still on oxygen and we have no idea when he’ll be well enough to come home.

If this can happen to a relatively fit man, what do you think would be the result if your elderly relative caught it and how guilty would you feel knowing that you had passed it on to them?

I can’t wait to see my sons (one of whom lives in the USA), but I’d rather spend the Christmas period alone than run the risk of being as ill as my son has been. We still have the phone and the internet, thank goodness.

And, by the way, this is not “just a bug” or “a touch of flu”.

A Ward

address supplied

virus

Publicise how serious this is

I am concerned about how the public seem to be complacent about coronavirus.

One way to show how dangerous this disease can be is to have posters on billboards, buses and other places, of patients in hospital on ventilators. Might make people realise how serious it really is.

Mrs Judith Harris

via email