Letters - Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Since when have some people read notices and abided by them?! (‘Park visitors ignore bird flu contamination zone’, The Gazette December 30).

I refer to the number of dog owners who ignore notices about keeping dogs on leads in certain areas of Stanley Park and allow them to enter the lake where swans, geese and other waterfowl congregate!

So why comply with notices and cordoned-off areas to protect birds from Avian flu!?

I often think when seeing a dog allowed in the lake near signets or goslings, that such birds will attack if other species are a threat and a dog and its owner would know about it if a goose or a swan intervened to protect their young, the dog would come off worse!

Until the lake is given the all clear again of bird flu contamination, there are other areas of the park to enjoy, and personally the culprits should be caught on camera or CCTV and fine the idiots heavily!

Clifford Chambers

Blackpool

HONOURS

Knighthood is outrageous

The Honours system has been under fire for years. Its critics argue it awards people for simply doing their job; it panders to those celebrities who ‘buy’ their gongs; it fails to recognise those ordinary people who do sterling work all year round on little pay, and overall it is out of step with the modern world.

Each of these arguments has merit and will undoubtedly continue to divide supporters and opponents.

The latest honours list includes several examples of each of the above criticisms. For me one stands out as simply past belief.

To award Tony Blair a Knighthood given his behaviour when PM is outrageous. It was Blair who along with President Bush stitched up a bogus reason to invade Iraq. There were no WMD and there is overwhelming evidence to prove he knew this.

As a result, Iraq was left in turmoil and civil war broke out. Our armed forces suffered casualties, dead and wounded. Some of the latter continue to suffer severe physical, mental and financial problems while Blair hoover’s up millions for very little effort.

What he and Bush concocted was described by the Washington Post as: ‘one of the worst crimes of the century’.

To this day he continues to lie about what happened and refuses to apologise. Whoever advised Her Majesty to award him this honour should hang their head in shame.

It makes a mockery of the whole system of awards.

Dr Barry Clayton

Thornton Cleveleys

* Tony Blair is to be knighted with the highest possible ranking in the new year honours list, Buckingham Palace has said.

Should he be knighted?

Tell the Queen NOOOOOOOO !

Keith Hallam

via email

VIRUS

Long-Covid sufferers missing payments

Tens of thousands of people suffering from long-Covid could be missing out on awards of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) if Government statistics are to be believed.

DWP figures show that they had an average of just one claim for PIP a day where the main disabling condition was Long Covid, between March and July 2021.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1.2 million people have Long Covid in the UK, 426,000 have had it for at least a year and 233,000 report that their ability to undertake daily activities has been “limited a lot” as a result. So why are more claims not being made?

The lack of claims might be explained by a lack of awareness or a reluctance to claim.

If you are having problems with daily activities and would like a FREE check to see if you could be entitled to PIP or any other benefits contact Benefit Answers on 0330 121 2128.

June Bennett

Via email

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