A lot of our pensioners just cannot afford £10
I WOULD like to reply to the person from Ramsbottom who did not put their name but made comments about not paying the £10 for the new pass.
Are they not aware that a lot of pensioners can’t afford it? Perhaps that is why they did not put their name, because they showed lack of sympathy to their fellow pensioners. I can afford it and have paid it. I wonder what they would say about the homeless and people using food banks. What would they have done if their friend Mr Burnham would have said it is optional to pay for the pass – it is free or you can pay £10; or if they went in a cafe and the sign said pensioners breakfast free today or £10 it’s a bargain?!
So good luck with your bargain hunting, you must find loads, but please find some sympathy for your fellow pensioners who find it hard to make ends meet – and there are a lot out there.
It is not a case of I’m Alright Jack. K Edwards, South Reddish
A society so, so spiteful
JUDGING by the large amount of complaints and difficulties that your readers report on – whether it be about the bus pass, trams, trains, even the banks (now becoming extinct going online), the withdrawal of the free TV licence for the over 75s, age restricted pensions. I could go on.
I think we are fast becoming the spiteful society, every avenue of our life is being made deliberately difficult. Isolating people and making people lose confidence. Worry, concern and distress are commonplace, especially amongst the elderly.
Things have never been so bad, but it is extremely disappointing to actually know that everything is being made this way on purpose!
How have we arrived in such a cruel and uncaring world. I do not think that there is anyway back. I worry for the future generations, as I can only see things getting much worse.
Jacqueline Ratcliffe, Salford
A boycott of Metrolink
I’VE paid my £10 tram & train tax and now the unnecessary scheme is going to cost Metrolink money.
I normally use the tram 3-4 times a week but since Jan 1 I have chosen to use the bus instead when possible. So this month Metrolink have lost seven journeys, I chose to use the bus.
At the end of the year I will let you and them know how many journeys they have lost. If enough people do this then this tax may be abandoned!
Thomas Beckett, via email
Shame on you Christian
I HAD the misfortune to listen to Terry Christian (AKA an entertainer) on the Piers Morgan show.
I had to listen to him say all pensioners should get flu and die (a Twitter post since deleted). Well, Mr Christian, this great-grandmother, grandmother and mother, all employed, some on high tax rate – what exactly have you contributed to this society apart from exercising your mouth?
You need to pay a little more respect to the people for the people, who fought for freedom, that allows people like you to spout drivel like this. I have never used an NHS bed, and I am still paying tax.
Shame on you.
KM, via email
Glad to see ‘meat-free’
IN connection with the coronavirus outbreak, I watched on television with great sadness, the ‘live’ poultry and the dreadful way in which they are transported, kept ‘live’ in cages and then roughly handled before killed to be eaten.
I then watched the statistics on the spread of this virus and how many people are being affected by the seriousness to us all.
I then read in the Manchester Evening News of the concerns about beef that is hormone-treated‘ and poultry that is industrially farmed with chlorine washing before being eaten. I then wondered, and continue to wonder, why people eat meat. I am so glad that there are an increasing number of ‘meat-free’ dishes shown on television in cooking programmes.
Elaine, Salford