LETTERS

True bravery

i’m quivering with rage as i pen this, following the outrageous attack on innocents in my home town of manchester.

We in the West pussyfoot around this irrational behaviour. i acknowledge at the outset that, of course, not all muslims are terrorists. However, all the terrorists who have been arrested in the recent past have been muslim.

But are these terrorists who posture as warriors brave? Are these men who so revile our way of life yet flee muslim countries and travel thousands of miles to live here brave?

Are these warriors who ruthlessly kill teenage girls and young children brave? Are those who are so frightened of women that they subjugate them to prevent them taking their rightful places in the world brave?

Are those warriors who then dress as women and seek sanctuary in the mosque to avoid capture brave?

During my recent course of study to obtain my master’s degree (at the age of 80), i valued the discussions i had with muslims on my course who were unequivocal in their condemnation of terrorism.

But the men and women within the mosques in our land and their imams, if they collectively rise up and loudly demonstrate their utter revulsion at what is happening in their name and help the British authorities fight this enemy — that would be brave. ERIC JONES LL.M., Southport, Merseyside.

PM must act

THeresA mAy must seek new emergency laws, saying criminals from other countries will not be allowed into the uK, that any immigrant who commits a crime here would be deported, after a jail sentence, and that anyone who leaves to join terrorists abroad will not be allowed back in the uK.

The Prime minister would achieve instant respect and a successful election victory. P. GREGORY, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.

Dirty diesel

in An attempt to reduce vehicle pollution in our towns and cities, i suggest that a new regulation should be created banning diesel ( and petrol) vehicles from being left idling for more than two minutes.

i often encounter taxis queuing in ranks waiting for their next ‘job’ with the engines left running while the drivers stand around chatting.

my wife and i recently visited a nearby country park and, parking near the visitor centre, we were confronted by three empty coaches being used to transport school children to the park. All three had their engines running and the fug was clearly visible.

it occurs to me that if drivers of many commercial diesel vehicles had to pay for the fuel, they might think twice about leaving these noisy, dirty engines chugging away.

The modern stop- start feature fitted to most new vehicles could be much better utilised on many commercial vehicles — and even if the vehicle hasn’t got the feature, the driver could do it manually!

MARK WOODWARD, Leamington Spa, Warks.

Wind of change?

THe mail and other papers have recently featured stories and speculation about the demise of internal combustion engine powered vehicles because of the pollutants that they put in the atmosphere.

There has also been a certain amount of comment about wind farms and other ‘green’ sources of energy and the large subsidies that taxpayers would continue to pay for these methods.

some months ago, i wrote to the CeO of a large wind farm company, suggesting he cast his mind back to science lessons at school when one of the things one learned about was electrolysis.

The excess power generated by wind farms, when it is not required by consumers, could be used to electrolyse water so as to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The former can be stored and distributed to drivers to fuel gas powered cars and generators (which would produce only water as by-products).

The oxygen could be used for a large number of things, too.

DAVID ALLEN, Holt, Norfolk.

Buying votes

Jeremy COrByn has promised students going to university this autumn will pay no tuition fees if Labour win the election. Two obvious questions spring to mind.

Will this offer apply to anyone who wants to go to university, regardless of student numbers? i ask this as the Labour manifesto and the estimated £9.5 billion per year it says it will cost seems to be based on allocating a fixed amount of money to cover tuition fees. This basis will only fund a fixed number of students, rather than all those who might want to go to university once it is free.

Perhaps a more pertinent question is, in the interests of fairness, will existing student debt be written off by a Labour government and how much will that cost? students with £50,000 debt will rightly feel aggrieved if this year’s intake pay nothing.

The £9.5 billion annual cost should also be put into perspective with other demands. Labour and other opposition parties have called for immediate injections of £1.5 billion per year into the nHs, social care and education, ie, a total of £4.5 billion a year. isn’t the latter a better option in these straitened times? JAMES WIGNALL, Accrington, Lancs.

MR CORBYN’S buying of students’ votes is disgraceful. is that all he can come up with? He is going to get hundreds of votes from young people or students, some of whom have not got a clue about politics.

Why should adult education be free? There are people at university in their late 20s and some in their 30s. They should get jobs in their long summer vacations to help pay for their overdrafts. And does this include overseas students (as eu law might compel)? All mr Corbyn can do is offer free this and free that to get votes. Let’s hope he can pay for it all. Mrs JEan TayLor,

oldham, Lancs.

Visa abuse

APArT from the appalling details of the attempted rape of an 18-year-old as she walked home, the fact that shocked me was that the 34-year-old Bangladeshi assailant was illegally resident in the uK after overstaying his work visa which expired ten years ago (mail).

How can we take politicians seriously when they say they will only allow people to live in the uK who are legally entitled to be here, when the state has effectively turned a blind eye to this blatant and gross abuse of the visa system? no wonder Britain is regarded as a soft touch by would-be over-stayers.

The convicted assailant, who has been sentenced to serve a minimum of nine and a half years, is going to cost the British taxpayer in excess of £400,000 in prison when he should have been put on the plane to Bangladesh ten years ago.

is there any central record kept by the immigration authorities about the numbers, identity and whereabouts of people granted visas to stay in the uK?

Do the same authorities keep their records up to date and issue reminder letters when visas are approaching the expiry date?

What enforcement action is taken to remove over-stays, and how many have been removed from the uK in

the past ten years? Unless this flagrant abuse of the visa system is addressed, then all the talk from the political parties about sensible immigration controls is nothing but hot air.

PETER HENRICK, Northfield, Birmingham.

May in a muddle

I HAVE just watched Theresa May being interviewed by andrew neil on Tv. She has just demonstrated that she is as incompetent as other politicians. What muddled incoherent responses to neil’s simple questions.

MIKE WRIGHT, Calcot, Berks.

Debt burden

DOES Phil Johns (letters) not understand that, under the Conservatives, the national debt has almost doubled in seven years from £1 trillion to £1.8 trillion. it would appear we need labour to clear up this mess! SHEILA ENNIS, surbiton, surrey.

Care’s fair

i Do not understand the flurry of complaints about the level of savings and assets above which people would be required to pay for their own care.

The limit to be left intact has been £23,250 and the proposal is to increase this to £100,000, including the value of your property. Surely that’s a massive improvement?

if i needed to go into care, i would obviously not be able to live in my own home, so it would make sense to sell the house to fund my care.

What is unfair is that it is not a level playing field. Yes, we own our house, but it was often a struggle to pay the mortgage, especially during the Eighties when interest rates were so high.

People who opted not to buy a house, but instead live in council or private rented properties, will most likely not have to pay for their care, unless they have very high sums in savings.

We were no better off than many who did not buy a house. We have also never claimed any benefits, other than child benefit. We do now get the winter fuel allowance, but agree that it should be subject to means testing, as many wealthy people receive this. MRS D. KELLY, Plymouth.