LETTERS

Tormented by travellers

TRAVELLERS dumped 250 tons of waste in Bromley, Kent (Mail). In case anyone wonders where these poor, disadvantaged people went when they were so cruelly evicted from private land, they moved onto playing fields opposite my house.

No doubt they will dump the same amount of rubbish before they can be legally evicted, which begs the question: why are travellers never prosecuted? It is fly-tipping, pure and simple, but these people with their high- spec mobile homes and top- of- the- range cars and vans blatantly operate outside the law.

Travellers cut padlocks to force entry, yet will claim a gate was wide open. Should this happen on land owned by a politician, celebrity or an MP, how long do you think it would take for police to act?

Mrs A. SMITH, Croydon, Surrey.

Beeb needs new talent

IT’S been obvious for years the BBC has been paying too much for its presenters, some of them mediocre.

No one is indispensable and can be replaced very easily from the thousands who would apply for the jobs if they came on the open market. But the BBC is too lazy to look for new talent. The Corporation should bring in new contracts as the old ones expire and pay the same wages to men and women.

GEORGE SELF, Weymouth, Dorset. WHY doesn’t the BBC just pay its presenters per hour of screen time?

A. STEVENS, Chelmsford, Essex. THE BBC should represent a cross section of the public, but it doesn’t appear that any of its staff are Tory or voted for Brexit.

Their only contact is with an unquestioning like-minded clique, which seriously affects their relevance to the rest of the country.

ALLEN COOK, Swadlincote, Derbys. IF BBC Breakfast presenter Victoria Fritz’s friends think she earns ‘so little’ — £60,000 a year — she moves in very well-paid circles.

A. R. STEAD, Loftus, Redcar & Cleveland. No PuBLICLY funded employee should get more than the prime minister. And if they don’t like that, tough!

J. WALMSLEY, Bury, Gtr Manchester.

Oh no, it’s Mel & Sue!

CouLD life get more depressing? Theresa May hanging on by her fingernails. Jeremy Corbyn waiting in the wings. Vince Cable full of arrogance and hubris.

Blair still fomenting trouble. Brexit in confusion. Pay and gender battles at the BBC. Dr Who has had a sex change. Gary Lineker totally smug.

And yet without a shred of pity for a battered population, the BBC is going to inflict Mel and Sue on us in the Generation Game.

PETER NUGENT, Bootle, Merseyside.

Lesson for NHS

I AM dismayed there is criticism of English tests for nurses and midwives who were not born or trained in the uK (Mail).

My daughter Rachel, a fully qualified nurse and midwife, applied to work in a hospital in Melbourne.

After a one-hour Skype interview, she had to pay for an English test at Liverpool university and a full medical and have all her academic qualifications, birth certificate, driving licence, passport, list of inoculations from birth, child protection certificate and an up-to-date photograph signed and verified by a solicitor.

The NHS Trust had to supply all details of her course and training.

The whole process took eight months, but my daughter had secured a job before she left the uK. Why can’t we do the same for people from abroad who apply to work in the NHS? LINDA JACKSON, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Gove’s golden goodbye

LAST year the Government announced a crackdown on public sector staff being paid golden goodbyes, then walking into similar jobs.

Michael Gove returned as Environment Secretary after receiving £17,000 for being sacked as Justice Minister. Is there any sign of him giving it back?

ERIC WATERS, Lancing, W. Sussex.

Toast from the Germans

oN A motorcycle tour to the Tyrol, we stopped off for a few days in Wurzburg in Germany.

Four of us were enjoying a drink when the waitress came to the table with a tray of four beers, with the compliments of another table.

A group of German gentlemen raised their glasses and light-heartedly shouted across: ‘May Day! May Day! Sorry you are leaving us.’

After sending another tray of beers over to us, they shook our hands and told us: ‘We are still friends. We

admire you for grasping the nettle.’ keep up the good work, Theresa. They are not all against us. COLIN MANNING,

Southampton.

Tackle fake news

INFLATION is lower than doom-mongers predicted and within the target range; Tony Blair stated Remainers outnumber Leavers, yet the report he took that from seems to state the opposite.

Jeremy Corbyn claimed the gap between the rich and poor is widening and we’re one of the worst offenders, though an official report says the gap is closing and the Uk is one of the best countries.

Why aren’t the Conservatives shouting the truth from the rooftops? JOHN McCORMICK, Allithwaite, Cumbria.

Brexit spectre

SO THE national debt has risen due to inflation caused by the devaluation of the pound. This resulted from Brexit, which will, of course, mean even more austerity.

Prices have increased, there are staff shortages in the NHS and thousands of jobs are moving abroad. Several of my family members are affected. All this is causing a lot of anxiety and we haven’t even left yet. I feel less free, am poorer and less safe.

I’m struggling to see the benefits of Brexit.

T. HOWARTH, London SW3.

Jane’s fame

REFERRING to her as ‘one of our greatest living authors’, Andrea Leadsom isn’t the only one confused about Jane Austen. When Sue Birtwistle, producer of BBC TV’s 1995 Pride And Prejudice, was seeking U. S. funding, one potential backer asked how many books Austen had sold.

When it dawned on him the book was published in 1815, he said: ‘You mean she won’t be available for book signings?’

COLIN DRURY, Dinas Powys, Glamorgan.