We must have easy access to our MPs
EARLIER this week during the BBC’s Daily Politics programme, there was an article about the proposed re-organisation of parliamentary constituencies.
The proposal is to reduce them from 65 to 60 with each one having the approximate same number of constituents.
That sounds fair but what bothers me – and continues to bother me – is the fact that for this to happen, some already vast rural constituencies will have to increase in size.
I know of at least one northern constituency which is already so large that the MP who represents it has to stay overnight when she visits the far end of it from her home.
How can people in constituencies like that visit their MP’s surgeries when to do so means a day’s journey and an overnight stay?
Extending the size of the area of constituencies like that appears ludicrous to me.
No MP can fairly represent a constituency which is huge in geographical terms.
I have heard some MPs moan about having more constituents than others but they don’t have distances to travel and the people they serve are more able to visit their surgeries than those living in remote rural areas.
So there has to be give and take and applied common sense in situations like this. Michael Wyatt, Manchester
Don’t pay the penalty
AS a stranger to your city, I recently contested a bus gate fine on Oxford Road and won the case as the adjudicator agreed that the signage is inadequate.
Please urge your readers to contest the penalties. Anne Mortimer, Leicestershire
The Quay to tourism
IT’S time Salford Quays and MediaCity had its own tourist information centre.
The area is being sold short as thousands of visitors do not enjoy all the attractions and amenities that Salford has to offer due to lack of information.
Salford city council cannot afford one, but it would be great if the businesses there and Peel Holdings, which owns so much of the Quays, got together and funded a centre.
Also, why is the entrance to the Quays – namely the iconic Manchester Docks Gateway – being allowed to go to wrack and ruin.
It is covered in giant weeds and black mould. It is all part of the history of Salford docks. The dock office is beautifully restored (now apartments), but is being let down by the derelict entrance. Jacqueline Ratcliffe
Memorial to Sir Gerald
THIS Sunday is a special day for Gorton.
At 11am the unveiling of a memorial stone in memory of Sir Gerald Kaufman will take place in Debdale Park, near to the old tennis courts.
Sir Gerald served his Gorton constituency for many years and it’s a year now since the great man passed away.
The Lord Mayor of Manchester – along with Gorton’s new MP Afzal Khan – will unveil the memorial.
The Friends of Debdale Park have organised this event on behalf of Gorton residents, so if you’re free come on down.
From lunchtime on Sunday there is the I Love Gorton event and exhibition, held at Gorton Monastery.
A new noticeboard will be unveiled in memory of Sir Gerald. Allan Grafton
Shine a light on danger
HAD a lovely weekend in Manchester seeing friends, shopping, exhibitions, etc.
Amazed though, driving around on a wet, dark and extremely busy M60/M66 with miles of roadworks, that none of the overhead lights were switched on. I mentioned this to several friends who told me that they are never switched on.
It seems dangerous for all concerned if this is a cost-cutting exercise. David Bunton, Exmouth, Devon