LETTERS

Protect British firms

LIKE Alex Brummer, I welcomed Prime Minister Theresa May’s preelection promise to protect key British businesses from hostile foreign takeovers (Mail).

How hollow that now sounds when week after week we see more of our world-renowned companies falling into foreign ownership while our politicians stand idly by.

We must be the laughing stock of countries who adopt protectionist policies if foreign bids are not considered to be in the national interest.

We are at the mercy of foreign firms to keep our lights on and to build our power stations, while we sell off our companies at the drop of a hat.

These takeovers are the work of greedy bankers seeking large fees and directors who see multi-millionpound profits.

We have seen some of our oldest companies fall prey to predators. It’s time for our politicians to wake up and see the damage to our industry caused by non-intervention.

DAVID MORGAN, Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

Cut red tape

THE Brexit transition provides a five-year opportunity for the UK to rebuild its manufacturing base.

The Government and business should be identifying and helping start-up manufacturing entrepreneurs to develop products and provide a strong foundation for future exports, while reducing our reliance on imports.

Central and local government needs to cut red tape. As well as business rate cuts and government loans, the public could be encouraged to support businesses with a 1p tax rise and national bonds.

NEIL HODGSON, North Shields, Tyne & Wear.

Time to teach success

SPOT on, Dominic Sandbrook. I saw the ‘all kids are brilliant’ ethos (Mail) with my children when everyone got a lolly for ‘winning’ on sports day and classroom drawings could not display the child’s name in case the good ones showed up the bad.

The approach saw an exodus of traditional teachers and a decline in standards. My sons left school with poor spelling and grammar, but the world of work taught them to survive. Both now run small businesses.

My daughter went on to teach A-level languages and is dismayed by the liberal attitude towards education that is resulting in Britain’s poor position in league tables for reading and maths.

ELAINE HULM, Northwich, Cheshire.

Even handed

DESPITE being left-handed, I was made to write with my right at school (Letters) and I am eternally grateful. It is much easier to be able to write this way, but I sew, play tennis, throw, carve and use scissors with my left hand. I was made to use a knife and fork in the conventional way, but when it comes to dessert, I pick up the spoon with my left hand.

When I see my two young grandchildren writing awkwardly with their left hands, I feel gifted rather than penalised that I was made to use my right hand. Mrs B. ELLIS, Winscombe, Somerset.

Divisive TV shows

THE BBC’s decision to mark the 70th anniversary of India’s partition was ill- conceived and badly implemented. Not only have the programmes been one- sided and biased, they fail to show many of the positive contributions the British made.

They are also divisive. India’s partition took place on religious lines, with Hindus and Sikhs wanting a united India, while Muslims asked for separation. Partition, which still overshadows Indo-Pakistani relations, was responsible for the deaths of a million innocent people.

By broadcasting programmes that divide, rather than unite, British Asians, the BBC may be widening the communal gap. RANDHIR SINGH BAINS,

Gants Hill, Essex.

Heavy-handed law

HEALTH and safety regulations have become a money spinner for the legal profession.

Bob Russell MP did not mention the increasing cost to companies not only to apply the regulations, but to process the paperwork (Letters).

The Olympic Park is held up as a shining example of the rules working, but there is no mention of the cost or time wasted.

Following the rules to the letter has resulted in police officers being disciplined for entering a river to save a child without first doing a risk assessment.

Health and safety rules can be an excuse for delay and poor productivity. They have become an albatross for business and workers.

F. McMANUS, Leeds.

Another fines mess

I CAN’T believe that Craig Hunt was fined for painting over offensive graffiti in a skate park (Mail). The jobsworths who bring these cases like to think they have the muscle to be bullies. They go for soft targets who are too decent to retaliate.

B. COOKE, New Milton, Hants.

Multi-cultural Brum

I WAS saddened at the graffiti ‘No whites after 8pm’ on a wall in Birmingham (Mail).

In 1971, when I opened a business in Alum Rock Road, it was thriving with many High Street stores.

On the day we opened, an Asian man came in, looked at us in surprise and said ‘you are English. We are going

to have all this area’ and walked out. It was the only time we had an issue with racism.

By the time I retired 20 years later, the big stores had gone and nearly all the shops were run by immigrant families. We had made many friends who wished us well when we left.

LOU DILKE, Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

Box of delights

IT’S sad to see the demise of the red telephone box (Mail). Growing up in rural Essex, it was the only phone in the village. My brother was a sailor away from home when he was granted unexpected leave.

When he asked the operator to call the box, a passing villager picked up. We all knew one another and the message was relayed to our parents. DAPHNE WARNER,

Harwich, Essex. MY FATHER was at RAF Leconfield in East Yorkshire in 1944 and flew bombing missions over Germany for 640 Halifax Squadron. Near the church was a red phone box — with a lock.

Just before a raid, it would be secured so no one could call home to say where they were going and when.

SUE WEAVER, London SW14. THERE is a red phone box in Liverpool Cathedral — Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s smallest design inside his largest.

LESLIE GROUT, Windsor.

Diana’s legacy

I CAN’T agree with Sarah Vine’s view that Prince Charles was ‘too much of a gentleman’ to tell the world how ‘bonkers’ Diana was. The Princess was undermined before, during and after her marriage. Charles and Camilla should slink away to Scotland and let William and Kate step into the shoes of our Queen when the time comes.

As for Sarah — off with her head! STELLA HERITAGE,

Alton, Staffs.