Letters - Thursday, October 1, 2020

Surely, pubs made their money with enough profits during the time when opening hours were much shorter. (‘Calling Time’, The Gazette, September 28).

Growing up from the 1950s onwards I recall public houses open from 11.30am to 3pm. Open again at 5.30pm or was it 6pm until 10.30/11pm, Monday to Saturday. Sundays was noon until 3pm and 7pm until 10/10.30pm.

Experts will correct me if I am wrong but these opening times were similar and strict.

No family bars or pub restaurants allowing children in for culinary delights with a play area to keep them entertained before and after a pub meal. It was how it was until opening times were relaxed and night clubs that closed at 1am were allowed licence to serve alcohol and play music until the early hours.

There didn’t seem to be any drunken masses with a strong police presence to try and keep order. Punters got merry, enjoyed conversation and laughs as we all walked home, go to bed and sleep! Would it be such a hardship to return to how it was?

Clifford Chambers

Blackpool

Politics

In response to MP’s letter

Dear Mr Benton. Thank you for your personal letter, which I was flattered but astonished to read. I’m surprised you had time between being a councillor in Yorkshire, attending Parliament and coming to Blackpool.

I’m not a candidate nor have I personally been fundraising. I’m just a member of the public who in my day job proudly represents the people of Lancashire as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.

Please focus on fixing the failed testing and tracing system so we can get a test quickly and the results within a day as promised.

Child poverty rates in Blackpool are alarming high, with neighbourhoods having more than half of children living in poverty. These statistics really worry me.

Unemployment rates locally are now the highest in the country. A shameful record. Thousands in Blackpool being left out in the cold by your plans.

Our mental health services are in crisis. It can’t be right locals wait over a year to see a specialist when they are in desperate need.

Hundreds of police officers are being allocated to leafy areas like Surrey. Surely before they get more officers than they had before the cuts, we should get back the 750 we lost. I hope we can agree on that.

Your attempts to single me out to try and silence me and other constituents will fail.

And finally, one bit of friendly advice. Make sure you have your playlist planned out for your run. When I ran the London Marathon, it helped me get through it. Good luck.

Chris Webb

Blackpool

virus

Freshers and herd immunity

In March, it was suggested that the delayed start to lockdown may in part have been due to scientific advice relating to ‘herd immunity’, that in the absence of a vaccine treatment, building up a widespread tolerance to Covid-19 across the general population would reduce the risk to those groups for whom infection would be a serious danger.

However, the rapid escalation in infections and hospital admissions among exactly that vulnerable section of society put paid to that idea.

Was herd immunity unachievable anyway? How would you ensure a sufficient spread of the virus amongst the less vulnerable population, in order to achieve the necessary coverage?

Perhaps initially one could persuade a significant proportion of a generally non-vulnerable age-group to congregate willingly from across the country into a number of isolatable environments, where the virus could be expected to spread amongst them.

After a few weeks when they have developed antibodies naturally, they could return to their homes where their families, a further known and controlled population group, would then be able to develop their immunity in turn.

At each stage, appropriate monitoring and necessary treatment could be available for any participant who developed serious symptoms during this ‘experiment’.

What better place for such an experiment than our universities?

John Rayner

via email