Reflections on life one year on from lockdown

TODAY, after over a year of lockdown, we have seen lots of people losing loved ones, especially health workers and families.

I am sure many people will be looking forward to travelling, meeting friends and family and having a haircut, which we have all taken for granted.

During lockdown we have seen irresponsible people partying and leaving piles of rubbish behind, police being attacked and injured and damage to police vehicles.

Law and order with fines was not a good deterrent as we see people protesting about Kill the Bill and other demonstrations during this time.

When I was young I respected a policeman, but today a minority of people are there just to cause damage and injuries.

Tougher penalties are needed as I feel we have been too soft compared to some countries where you have to obey the laws, with dire consequences of facing jail if not.

Whilst in lockdown I have appreciated living in our country and also our multi-cultural city, living in peace.

Also, we all should be thankful for a vaccine to save lives, with which we have led the world, much to the annoyance of some countries.

When shops and businesses open next week, our city will never be the same as people are being urged to work from home rather than travelling into the city, where they can also shop.

It saddens me to see shops closed as news of banks closing, with Santander closing in Horsefair Street, and other outlets in the county.

Lots of businesses have gone and some will never open – some of which were here for over 100 years.

When I left school I was offered five jobs at different companies as an apprentice.

Today, all these companies have gone and I wonder if apprenticeships for young people will be available in the future.

Job prospects are either in a warehouse or store or building houses as we have lost our engineering and hosiery industries.

News elsewhere in the country is about building trains for London Underground, with Stadler building a massive site at Goole to assemble, not build, yet they call it a factory.

A factory is where you manufacture everything, not assemble them, as the body shells are being made in Austria and some of the trains are also being built there.

When orders are completed what will the future be as I expect it will become empty?

We keep building warehouses for imported goods especially from China, which has grown dramatically, as shown with the giant container ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal during our lockdown.

Also, climate change is happening with the destruction of so many trees worldwide, lorry and car pollution

and sea life being destroyed.

Recently, a letter was published about the effect of sharks being killed in their thousands for their fins for soup, most of which ends up in China. This affects our oceans which are already heavily polluted.

I feel that China is a country not to be trusted as there is no freedom of speech and all the Uighur Muslim people being forced labour, having to pick cotton – and we have had one of our local MPs, for Harborough, sanctioned for speaking out about.

I am thankful for what I have each day as everyone should be and also I

wish everyone good health and happiness for the future.

D A Cookson, Groby

Let’s admire paving while we still can

WHILE the city centre has been almost devoid of people, the council has been getting on with repaving the area round the Clock Tower.

When the shops reopen we can all go and admire it. However, we may need to be quick because very likely within a fortnight a gang from some utility firm will turn up with pickaxes and pneumatic drills and start digging up the paving. Then, within a short time, the area will be a patchwork of Tarmac just like the previous expensive paving.

If we are to preserve the benefits of this renovation, then utilities must be required to lift any paving carefully, store it and replace it precisely when they have finished.

In case that is not practical then the council should hold a large store of the same paving which utilities should be obliged to purchase so when their work is finished there is no visible sign of it. Of course, the same practice should be followed wherever else the streets of Leicester are being improved.

Anthony Matthew, Leicester