Letters - Wednesday February 10, 2021

What will we do when the system goes down?
See letter from David CraggsSee letter from David Craggs
See letter from David Craggs

I suppose that there’s no room for sentimentality when it comes to the closure of our high street shops, many that have been with us for as far back as we can remember.

But I personally find it very sad at what is taking place at the moment, and will continue to take place until all shops, as we at present know them, will have disappeared.

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I suspect that only then will we appreciate what we had. It was sad to see Woolworths and BHS go, but since the empty sites were surrounded by prosperous stores (long before Covid-19), we tended not to miss them.

Do we honestly want to live in a world where every single item that comes into our households has been delivered to our doorstep, having been ordered online?

Our very existence would be governed by a ‘box of tricks’, linked to outlets by an unbelievably complex system of electromagnetic waves.

It is inevitable that at times the system will go ‘down’.

Already we have seen, although at present it is a very rare event, the till systems go down in our supermarkets, paralysing the whole store.

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In fact it is predicted that future wars will be fought, not by soldiers fighting, how ever sophisticated their equipment might be, but by bringing down a country’s whole electronic network.

No doubt potentially hostile countries are already working on this.

And when it does happen, it won’t be just a case of the scanners not working at the mini-market down the road.

Every form of electronic communication will be down.

David Craggs

Address supplied

Politics

Elections more important than ever

It’s not a secret that local elections meet with general indifference or boredom: voting levels are often low, even lower amongst younger voters!

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However, in current times these elections are even more important than ever.

County council level especially is the most powerful way that the voice of we, the people, can be heard.

I have just registered for a postal vote for the first time ever.

The Government says we will be able to vote in person in the county council elections in May. But forecasting how things will be then is tricky, as we know. I hope all will be well, but I know I definitely want to vote.

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One reason is that I do not think that the Westminster Government knows, or cares, very much about the North West. It lumps all of the North West together in a land referred to as “the North” with as much understanding (or possibly less) than it has of Westeros.

I urge everyone to be ready to vote in the county council elections in May.

The people of Lancashire need voices in County Hall which are not influenced by a Government whose priorities lie elsewhere, usually London and the south.

Challenges to Lancashire homes lie ahead: flooding is an increasing problem and new planning laws will have a big impact. Agriculture is under threat from future trade arrangements, just as fishing has found to its cost.

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These sit alongside our local concerns about our health service, care for the elderly, our schools, the state of our roads, employment and support for families and business.

The single spectacular success in the pandemic is the vaccine programme.

Why?

Because it is based on an established network of local knowledge and expertise.

Imagine if Test and Trace had been allowed to use local Public Health and Primary Health Care personnel to make contact and slow down the virus.

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Multi-millions spent in communities for lasting good, not wasted on the (abandoned) “world-beating app” which never left the Isle of Wight, or given to just one company: SERCO and its £1,000 a day consultants.

When we get a chance to show how we feel about life in Lancashire, let’s remember that strong, Lancashire focused voices need to be heard and vote.

Elizabeth Warner

address supplied

Community

Bins left out in street all week

As it’s tipping down, a thought for the day.

Have readers also watched the steady decline in many terraced residential streets where householder after householder now leave their bins out on the pavement all week long?

On the introduction of the wheelie bins, we were clearly told that we must return our bins back to the confines of our premises. But nobody cares anymore including – it seems – those who are meant to protect our street scene.

Lost Standards

Name and address supplied