Protesters could have impact on innocent
I CANNOT believe the idiotic people of this world wanting to protest about lockdown.
As I understand it, the current temporary legislation was introduced to rightly control this deadly pandemic.
If any march or protest does go ahead, the people should be arrested and taken into our hospitals coping with the virus.
Those that survive may not be as ready to act with such stupidity again.
I am convinced there is a political subversive agenda afoot.
They failed with Brexit.
Now they have taken a different tack.
I don’t give a jot what harm they do to themselves but such actions will impact on innocent people.
Chief Constable, please take note. Ian, via email
Road to disaster
THE decision to get people to cycle to work during the virus is commendable, but the Mayor of Manchester and other councils need to learn from Bury Council’s disastrous decision.
The A57 through Prestwich Village leads to Junction 17 of the very busy M60 motorway.
Bury council decided to widen the pavement, plant trees and reduce the road to one lane.
It has become one of the worst roads for congestion in the UK, adding to high levels of pollution.
If it is decided to make these extremely wide cycle lanes permanent everyone needs to proceed with caution.
J. Barker, Whitefield
Let’s plant a future here
AS we struggle with lockdown, isolation and fear of infection, TV chefs can take the lead in making Britain a safer place. It is diet that has led to Covid-19, it is diet that will bring more pandemics and it is diet that can ensure there will be no more pandemics.
There is no denying that animal agriculture is having a devastating impact on our planet. It has ravaged our rainforests, is wiping out wildlife and has been a catalyst for the catastrophic outbreak of Covid-19. Not forgetting the brutally savage conditions that farmed animals are forced to endure for their short, miserable lives.
Factory farms are squalid, filthy and disease-ridden places which provide a fertile environment for the transmission of viruses between different species and humans. Covid-19 may have originated in East Asia but factory farms can be found in every corner of the globe and their threat is just as real.
This week vegan campaigners Viva! have written an open letter to TV chefs asking why they insist on promoting animal ingredients. Viva! asks them to take the lead and showcase the culinary wonders of plant-based food in a bid to save the planet, our health and end animal cruelty. Vegan chefs are hitting the mainstream. Gaz Oakley has launched a vegan range at Wagamama’s and the famous vegan chefs BOSH are now regulars on ITV. The public’s appetite for vegan food is insatiable.
Going vegan is the single biggest action an individual can take to reduce our environmental impact on the planet. If our entire species was willing to acknowledge and promote a switch to veganism, the planet would do more than just recover from Covid-19, it would thrive. Wildlife would flourish, pollution would decrease, animal cruelty would diminish and we would see a dramatic reduction in diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers.
So come on TV chefs, step up to the plate! There are red warning flags waving in every aspect of our lives and they can help to turn them green – literally.
Siobhan Dolan, Viva!
Where were experts?
WHAT do the Department of Health, Public Health England and NHS Trusts have in common? They are all independent organisations responsible for running our Health Service.
These civil servants advise the government of the day whether it be Tory or Labour. They are given free rein to do what is necessary to keep us healthy without interference from the government. Public Health England is a £4.5billion organisation with over 200 people on 6 figure sums.
In 2016, 975 people from Public Health England, the NHS and local authorities took part in a pandemic simulation. A report deemed that we were not prepared for such an outbreak. This report must have been distributed to all who attended but what did any of them do in the following four years to rectify the deficiencies? It has been reported that Boris Johnson could axe PHE altogether once this is all over as the responsibility for obtaining PPE was down to them.
It is time to stop pointing the finger at the government for everything that has happened during the last few months. They have made mistakes but there is no manual for dealing with a new virus
Expert after expert is coming out of the woodwork but where were they at the beginning of March? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Jack Haynes, Swinton