LETTERS

Cost of a degree

THOUGH I agree with David Spencer that university should only be for those who are academically suited (Letters), I don’t agree with his view that in the past it opened the door to a well-paid career.

If only that had been true for me. When I graduated with an arts degree that did not qualify me for a specific job, there were only two options: teaching or the civil service.

I didn’t want to work in an office, so I taught in a school for a year, despite not liking children — and needless to say it was a disaster.

My starting salary in 1969 was just under £1,000 a year, the equivalent of £11,000 today. I left and applied for other jobs, only to be told I was overqualified because I had a degree.

Eventually, I became a teacher of English as a foreign language to adults. When I left this role a few years ago, I realised to my horror that I was earning the minimum wage, yet I had a Masters degree and years of experience.

My advice to young people is to consider all their options and only choose to study a job-specific subject at university with a good chance of obtaining employment.

There are many jobs that do not require a degree and not all by any means are dead-end or badly paid.

Name supplied, Hastings, E. Sussex.

Criminalising bargains

THE SNP government is planning to ban restaurants, hotels and other businesses from offering 2 For 1 lunches and dinners. But the very same Government is also reported as wanting to decriminalise drugs.

If those people who are running the government had a moral compass to begin with, they have lost it.

WILL BROOKS, Leven, Fife.

Gambling nightmare

THE warning that gambling firms are targeting children reminded me of when I used to work as a hostess at one of Britain’s largest holiday camps. Then, the gambling slot machines were in a separate area with a notice that under-18s were not allowed.

Some years later, when the holiday camp had been taken over, I was horrified to see children had access to the gambling machines.

My seven-year-old spent her pocket money playing the machines, believing she would win — and that evening she woke from a nightmare that she had lost all her money.

ANN ALLAN, Seaford, W. Sussex.

Right to a better death

PALLIATIVE care experts claim Noel Conway — who has motor neurone disease and is campaigning for the right to die — can request that his breathing support is removed (Letters).

They say specialists can ‘ensure patients’ comfort’ during this process. Could I ask how comfortable they think this would be?

Those who travel to Dignitas are aware of the alternative where the end would be anything but comfortable. I’m sure I’m not alone in having visited someone dying of cancer, seen them in pain and asking the staff about medication, only to be told the next dose is due soon, but not now.

My sister died of motor neurone disease, unable to swallow anything, even water, as she would choke on it. We were told that all that could be done was to keep her lips moist.

Why was she even awake and aware at that final stage? Both these instances occurred in hospices. Though palliative care can work well, it isn’t always robust enough.

MOIRA ABE, Blandford, Dorset.

Time to step aside?

MRS MAy’S three-times refusal to give a straight answer to the question of whether she would back Brexit in another referendum (Mail) reveals that she would not.

She was never the right choice for a prime minister tasked with the number one job of getting Britain out of the corrupt EU.

All she has done in 15 months is to sign a letter announcing withdrawal from the EU and talked about talks.

Brexiteers know that most of the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MPs are still Europhiles. They can’t abide admitting they had ignored the feelings of the majority of British people who put party politics aside and selflessly voted for their country, not their careers and pensions. Please, Mrs May, step aside in favour of a PM who can say: ‘I’d vote for Brexit every time!’

MAURICE BLIGH, Sittingbourne, Kent.

Nicola’s magic powers

NICOLA Sturgeon announced this week that she will form a stateowned energy firm to drive down soaring energy costs. (Mail)

She added that the electricity would come from renewable sources. Does Miss Sturgeon now have control of the wind and sun?

When they do not blow or shine what then? Her government could have delivered cheaper energy bills, both gas and electricity, if it had allowed fracking and not played politics with the six Green MSPs. Another missed opportunity.

CLARK CROSS, Linlithgow, West Lothian. IT’S 2020 and the SNP have launched an energy company for Scotland providing gas and electricity at low prices... I sign up but after a few months I stop paying.

What Scottish minister is going stand up in the parliament and say