How dare a minister tar carers like me as selfish
THe demise of the extended family since the war, when many — including my parents — had to move to find work, meant they couldn’t care for elderly relatives. But we’re not all too selfish to care, as justice minister and GP Dr Phillip Lee claims (Mail).
Both my parents, Bob and Anne Taylor, cared for my grandmothers and neither expected nor received state help. I’ve been a carer for ten years, initially holding down a demanding job at the same time.
My mother and I looked after Dad as he succumbed to Alzheimer’s — and in his last year, when he needed 24-hour care, I had to fight for everything we were entitled to. We had carers briefly each day, as we were exhausted.
Medical and care professionals tried repeatedly to persuade us to put Dad in a home, but we would not consider it.
I now care for Mum and am glad to do so. I would point out to Dr Lee that this forgotten army of family carers is saving the Government millions of pounds, and most of us have had no financial support. Please don’t tar us all with the same brush. ROWENA PALMER, Crawley, W. Sussex.
Sex pests
THe revelations about Harvey Weinstein are shocking, but predatory sexual behaviour is not confined to Hollywood.
As a young lawyer in the eighties and nineties, I endured continual harassment that included sexual remarks and touching.
Most women of my generation considered this the norm. It was disgusting and depressing, but you got used to pushing away the advances and ignoring them.
On one occasion, I was asked to go to an isolated office to discuss my career progression and salary.
As I walked through the door, it was locked behind me and the man in question told me he wanted a massage. no one else was around to hear if I screamed.
I stayed calm and explained that what he wanted was not going to happen. I could see him calculating whether he should go ahead and do what he wanted anyway. Luckily, he backed down.
Friends who were high-fliers in a corporate world have told me such incidents were common. However qualified or successful you were, you were considered a chattel that could be bullied and humiliated. I fear not much has changed.
S. HUNtER, Midhurst, W. Sussex.
Horrid Harvey
DuRInG my 47 years in customer service at Heathrow, I met many personalities, including royalty, showbusiness, big business, government and sport folk.
Some who you think were very nice were not, while others with a poor reputation were lovely.
I had the misfortune to meet Harvey Weinstein — he was one of the rudest people I ever had to deal with. RON JOHNSON, Old Windsor, Berks.
Core values?
WHen my elderly neighbour put windfall apples into the green bin for garden waste, the bin men refused to empty it, claiming they were food. I can’t imagine what sort of jobsworth at the council came up with this rule.
Surely bruised and rotten windfalls that have been pecked by the birds are garden waste — who would eat them?
JOHN MARSHALL, Long Bennington, Lincs.
Immigration impact
THeRe are more than one million illegal immigrants in Britain, according to a former Home Office chief ( Mail), and we should recognise this is the real reason our nHS can’t cope.
Isn’t it also the reason we are having to build homes in the green belt and why our schools are overwhelmed? It’s time our politicians told us the real impact of immigration, legal and illegal. RAY COCKAYNE, Nuneaton, Warks. On OuR crowded island, with its many ethnic groups and religions, on the whole we get along. So why do politicians continue to pick at the racism scab?
The latest statistics on ethnic groups purport to show racial discrimination is widespread and is holding people back. But there are many circumstances that can lead to people being winners and losers in life.
I believe this is a political stunt by Prime Minister Theresa May as she tries to lead the Tories to the Left in a bid to neutralise Jeremy Corbyn. It also fits in nicely with the establishment’s obsession with equality and diversity.
DAVID J. WHItE, Basingstoke, Hants.
Forgotten godmother
I AM pleased that Carol Batchelor has such a good relationship with her goddaughters (Letters), but I’m afraid I feel abandoned.
I looked after my godchildren as if they were my own, gave them birthday and Christmas gifts, took them on holiday and always welcomed them into my home.
But a year ago, I broke my femur and I’m still recovering. not once have I had a visit, an offer of help, a bouquet or a get-well card. Ms CHRIStINE WILLIAMS, Newent, Glos.
Corridors of power
WHeTHeR it is Parliament or the local council, it is all about power without responsibility.
When was the last time a minister resigned because they had made a mistake? And in all the child sex abuse scandals, it’s never been accepted as a councillor’s failing and rarely seen as a council official’s responsibility.
Our elected representatives should be held to account and not just at election time. BILL HODGES, Eynesbury, Cambs.
Buzz off, GM
THe latest flaw in GM, which was going to save the world, is that insects are developing resistance.
The ‘experts’ put an exclusion zone of a few hundred yards around fields growing genetically modified crops, only to find bees can fly up to three miles.
They really don’t know what they are doing and try to play God when it appears they haven’t even the brains they were born with.
My heart sinks every time I hear yet another group of greedy, arrogant and condescending GM firms think they can improve on nature without a basic idea of how it all works and why.
PHIL GRANGER, West Malling, Kent.