Arrogant MPs make Britain a laughing stock

THE disrespect shown to the British people by Parliament is disgusting. A group of toddlers would behave better and with more manners than our MPs.

They have shown no regard for the position they hold in our name and are making us a laughing stock around the world.

The language used by some of the ruling class is unforgivable. The MPs who have defected from their parties do so with sheer arrogance. They do not have the courtesy to stand down.

In any other career they would be sacked for gross misconduct, thereby losing their pension. They certainly should not be allowed to stand for re-election.

It seems Parliament is only there for the personal vanity of the MPs, not to do our bidding.

Name and address supplied. WHEN will politicians stop treating those who put them in their privileged position like fools?

They are not ‘employed’ to do their own thing but are entrusted to enact promises made to the electorate, without prevarication or duplicity. Is it little wonder today’s politicians are at the very bottom of the popularity list?

GRAHAM WYLLIE, Greengairs, Lanarkshire.

Make banks pay

DATA protection legislation has failed in our banks and actually protects the fraudster by allowing 30 days for a reply to a question about who holds an account.

In fact, banks facilitate fraud with their inadequate checks and obsolete systems.

Reimbursement should be paid by the bank used by a fraudster. If banks had to pay, they would do much more to prevent illicit accounts from being opened. REV DR JOHN CAMERON,

St Andrews, Fife.

Duck and grouse

I WAS amused by the complaints about over-familiarity (Letters). After working as a bus driver in the East Midlands for decades, I was used to calling my passengers ‘mi duck’. Moving to the South Coast, I was brought to heel by one lady. ‘Good morning,’ I said.

There was no response as she put down her handbag and proceeded to take off her gloves, watching me with suspicion. ‘Where to, my love?’ ‘Portsmouth, please. And I am not your love!’ she responded. It made my day. BERNARD JEFFORD,

Worthing, W. Sussex. WHEN a friendly telephone caller asks if it’s OK to call me Yvonne, I reply: ‘I’ve been called worse’! Y. SULLIVAN, Holmfirth, W. Yorks.

Home front

THE excellent articles describing hour by hour what happened on the day the Second World War broke out (Mail) reminded me of events that caused much amusement in my family.

When the sirens sounded just after war had been declared, my mother’s friend followed the official advice about what to do in a gas attack.

Hurriedly, she threw blankets in the bath, then hung them up at the doors, dripping water everywhere. My father was an air-raid warden and when the sirens sounded, he decided to reassure the residents of our street by marching up and down the middle of the road dressed in his gas protective clothing.

This consisted of bright yellow oilskins and a gas mask with a corrugated breathing pipe leading to a filtration unit on his chest.

A neighbour peering out at him from an upstairs window yelled with withering scorn: ‘You look a right booger! You’ll frighten everyone to death!’

Most of the neighbours scorned the brick-built air-raid shelter in the street and instead crowded into our house, in the fond belief that the air-raid warden’s property would be safe from bombs.

If the Germans had a sense of humour, they would have died laughing at us. ROGER FLINDALL, Long Eaton, Derbys. ON THE day that the Second World War was declared, my friend and I, both not yet five, were playing in the street while the grownups huddled round radios.

When the sirens sounded, we didn’t know what was going on. The lady who owned the sweet shop had to come out into the street to tell us to go home.

G. F. ILES, Purley, Surrey.

Arthur’s legacy

INTRIGUED that the name Arthur has become popular because of the TV drama Peaky Blinders, I decided to watch an episode. I naively assumed the character of Arthur must be a hero on a par with Ross Poldark.

I was shocked by the swearing, violence and drugs. How can we expect to cure society’s ills when a programme about gangsters has become embedded in our culture?

It makes me wonder what Arthur’s namesakes may be up to in a few years’ time.

KAREN MOORE, Boston, Lincs.

Silver in the spuds

BURY FC may be no more, but its glory days are still celebrated.

In 1903 the team won the FA Cup, beating Derby County 6-0. Club chairman Herbert Duckworth was my brother-in-law’s father.

Supporters who had attended the match arrived back in the early hours. They were mindful that a previous cup had been stolen, never to be seen again.

Mr Duckworth ran a greengrocer’s near the station, so the famous trophy was hidden in a sack of potatoes overnight.

JUNE BRIDGE, Bury, Gtr Manchester.