Letters - Wednesday January 27, 2021

How sad to hear that the Blackpool Debenhams store is to close, leaving a huge void in the Houndshill centre.

The powers that be say they are looking for another ‘big name’ to take over but the reality is there are no large retailers out there who are expanding and could take on a site of this size.

Would it not be a good idea to put the planned extention to the centre on hold and move the planned Wilco store in when the site becomes empty ?

Another idea... would it be feasible to move the Magistrates Court into the unit ? Sounds a bit wacky, but think about it, it would be expensive to convert of course but cheaper than a new build, handy for town centre, loads of parking, and easy to get to from the new police station via Seasiders way. It could work if Wilco took one floor leaving the other two floors to the courts.

Worth thinking about ?

Neal Duffy

via email

Politics

Move to ban bomb will come from below

Politicians and campaigners, and also decent folk, must be calling it shameful our Government the other day refused to sign up to the United Nations UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

The Tory government failed to back the treaty, which came into effect the other day.

Ben Donaldson of UN Association UK said the ground was moving under the UK’s feet.

The new treaty will sit alongside the other major global treaty on nuclear weapons, the Non Proliferation Treaty, and drive forward the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.

With latest polls showing 77 per cent of Brits support a total ban on nuclear weapons it is time to contact MPs. Shamefully, our government refused to even participate in treaty talks.

The treaty is a victory for all peace loving people and the courageous states that have stood up globally to demand nuclear abolition.

Our government relies on an outdated nuclear system to maintain its reputation as an imperial power intent on pursuing power through the threat of unspeakable violence.

Resistance to it will not come from official politics, where all parties egg each other on to new heights of aggression internationally and treat nuclear disarmament as a peacenik fantasy. It will come from below through increased support for CND and a stronger peace movement that those in power cannot afford to ignore.

Royston Jones

Anchorsholme

Politics

Paltry gains for our fishermen

Taking back control of our waters was one of the main planks of the Brexit campaign and one of the most important aspects of negotiations with the EU.

When the trade deal was announced, No. 10 reported that the outcome was a victory for Britain on fishing. On December 28, Michael Gove stated that in 2026 British fishermen ‘will be taking two thirds of our marine wealth – a sizeable uplift’.

At Prime Minister’s Question Time, Boris Johnson stated that ‘Brexit is delivering a huge uplift in quota’. They are, of course, both wrong; at the moment British fishermen have a quota of 50 per cent of fish caught in British waters. After five and a half years that quota is to increase to 58 per cent. The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) has described this as ‘miniscule, marginal, paltry, pathetic’.

This whole sorry saga proves once more that this is a Government which cannot be trusted.

Mike Baldwin

address supplied

Community

Helping Brian the Milk on his way

The unsung hero Brian the Milk was delivering at 1pm.

He got stuck at the bottom of the hill outside our house with his full load on board.

We unloaded to help distribute the weight.

Finally we got him away with a little help with sand and spade to deliver to all his customers.

Well done Brian and thank you for keeping us going.

Neil Donnelly

Kirkham