LETTERS

Hot topic

WHEN Theresa May took office as Prime Minister, she stood outside No 10 and said she wanted to help the JAMS, those people who are ‘just about managing’.

Well, here’s a chance to put those words into action. When we experience cold and snowy weather, why not cancel all the taxes on our gas and electric charges? This would enable the JAMS to be warm in their homes and not have to make the decision of whether to heat or eat.

I await with trepidation the pigs flying by my window.

PETER SHAW, Heysham, Lancs.

Lessons learned?

WE WERE told that Lord Bassam claimed £260,000 for overnight stays he didn’t have in London along with £41,000 for travel fares back home.

In the real world, he would have been compelled to repay the £260,000, but in Parliament they think it’s OK that he just repays the £41,000.

Have they learned nothing from the expenses scandal? BARRY SOUTHWORTH,

Clitheroe, Lancs.

Play the game!

WITH the latest row between Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, we once again see football managers at each other’s throats. I played football until I was 45 and am a lifetime supporter of the game. I believe a proportion of the unrest, arguments, fighting and dissent on the pitch and the terraces before, during and after a match is directly attributable to the presence of the managers at the side of the pitch.

Their unsportsmanlike and overzealous behaviour, often in close proximity to each other, can lead to disorder. There is the sanction of sending a manager to the stands, but I have to ask why do they need to be on the side of the pitch at all?

GEOFF COOLING, Sleights, N. Yorks.

Uniform stupidity

THE news that Army recruits were found to be high on drugs during a military parade will dismay all of us who have taken pride in our own service in uniform.

I am astonished at the decision not to kick them out or send them to a military prison, but to allow them to carry on serving.

I question the mentality of senior officers who believe young idiots out of their minds and walking about with loaded weapons is acceptable. CLIVE NELSON-SINGER,

Beare Green, Surrey.

Bank robbers

IT IS an outrage that the Royal Bank of Scotland, having been bailed out by the taxpayer, should get away with closing 259 branches.

We are rapidly developing into a two-tier society. The young do their banking on the internet, with all its attendant risks, while older people rely on traditional banks.

I will never understand why not a single banker went to prison when the financial industry abandoned any vestige of integrity. Instead, those in charge at the time of the financial crisis retired with pay-outs and substantial pensions.

ROBIN CAMPBELL, Chipping Norton, Oxon. BANKS are continuing to close down thousands of ATMs and with transactions via smart phones and the internet on the rise, it would pay to reflect upon what happened in Puerto Rico after the hurricane.

The ATMs emptied within a day, the phone and internet networks crashed because of the total power failure and people were unable to buy provisions needed to survive.

The U.S. had to fly in jets full of ready cash.

ALAN COTTERELL, Ipswich.

Mad at Dr Max

WHY is Dr Max Pemberton targeting overweight nurses (Mail)? I have been overweight all my life and have worked on a busy surgical ward for years, running around during 12½-hour shifts.

What about other issues that affect health, such as smoking? How many medical staff have cigarette breaks and come back smelling of smoke and then tut-tut at a patient with bad circulation who smokes.

How about doctors who drink more than the recommended number of units per week?

Maybe we see those people as slim and a picture of health, but a vice that is not as visual as being overweight also needs to be highlighted. LORRAINE YORKE, address supplied. GRATEFUL patients could help obese nurses by giving them fruit instead of boxes of chocolates as a thank-you present. Many nurses do not get time for breaks so scoff sweets to keep them going.

Mrs I. REED, Eastbourne, E. Sussex.

Radio ructions

I AM puzzled about the controversy over the pay of the presenters on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Is Sarah Montague’s salary of £150,000 for reading scripts and asking questions for a few hours a day not a generous payment?

The fact John Humphrys’ salary is more than four times that does not mean she is underpaid; it simply means he has a better agent. When will we stop referring to celebrities ‘earning’ so much money? They are paid that amount, but no one can argue they earn it. CLIFF KEEYS, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.

Brexit betrayal

PORTRAY the EU negotiations as you will, but it still appears to be a humiliating debacle and a masterclass in how to bring a once proud country to its knees.

A fudge over Northern Island, no border controls until at least 2019, European Court of Justice rules applying for many years, a massive divorce bill and EU citizens being given more rights to bring a

spouse or partner here than UK citizens have.

People voted for Brexit to control freedom of movement, but all we will see in the short term is an increase the foreign nationals coming here.

Better to just walk away, begin controlling our borders immediately and regain our country’s self-respect. G. HILL, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Tree of hope

IT’S a special moment when my family stands around our tree and sings O Tannenbaum, the German carol.

During World War II, my father was in Dresden, which had been razed to the ground.

In the middle of the rubble there was a Christmas tree surrounded by children, singing: ‘Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree,/Your branches green delight us!’ BARBARA JENNINGS, Hastings. IT’S not just Libby Purvis who thinks sending Christmas cards has become a chore rather than a pleasure (Inspire).

Why feel shame or guilt when you receive cards from people you’ve not given a card to?

There are good reasons for sending cards to friends who are far away or who you don’t see often, if only to let them know you are still alive!

My wife writes an account of our news during the year to enclose in these cards, but for years we continued the silly practice of giving cards to close friends and neighbours, even those we will be seeing over the Christmas holiday. But no longer. Our card list is much smaller this year. DAVID ANDREWS, Bacup, Lancs.

No space for Jesus

I ENJOY writing poetry and so joined a Facebook group to share my verse.

I posted a special one for Christmas called Keep Calm And Remember, commemorating the birth of Jesus, ‘the Baby born to save us all/The king of kings/Born in a stall’.

I was shocked when it received so many abusive comments — the mildest were ‘ load of rubbish’, ‘ fairy tale’ and ‘Jackanory’ — that the administrator deleted it.

I was told: ‘It’s against our group rules about religion. It causes unrest. The reason we have admin is to keep the group sweet.

‘Hard at times. If you believe in religion, best to join a group that does just that. We dislike sexual swearing and bullying, too.’

So much for peace on Earth and goodwill to all.

GEORGINA SMITH, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne & Wear.