The ultimate honour for terror attack hero

RECENTLY, during a London terrorist attack, a young Spanish man went to the aid of others under assault armed only with his skateboard.

He died in so doing. Quite rightly his action was rewarded with the George Cross, our nation’s second highest bravery award, given when the life of the recipient is in mortal danger other than in the face of the enemy, to members of both the armed forces and the civilian populace.

The man’s family came to Buckingham Palace to accept the medal from Her Majesty the Queen. They came forward, obviously in awe, for the presentation. Then for just a brief moment everyone and everything faded out as the Queen spoke to them. A mother speaking to a grieving family. No-one else there counted. Only the Queen can do these things. David Prichard Rumney, Cardiff

Incompetence over benefits

AN estimated 180,000 sick and disabled people are owed arrears payments totalling £970m due to being underpaid Employment and Support Allowance, according to a damning statement snuck out by the Department for Work and Pensions. Internal analysis has revealed the cost of compensating these claimants with higher rewards is expected to reach as much as £700m over the next seven years, bringing the total up to £1.67bn. The average back payment, covering the 2011-14 period, is expected to be £5,000. Some 1.5 million people were transferred from older incapacity to ESA, but many have been underpaid due to the DWP’s failure to assess whether they qualified for incomebased ESA rather than the less generous contribution based allowance. Hundreds of department employees are working through individual cases, but they can’t undo the considerable detriment inflicted on those who are sick, disabled or live with a terminal illness. We may never know the extent of unnecessary premature deaths among people in crisis situations who have been unable to maintain a roof over their heads, nor how many have chosen the desperate option of suicide because the state made them feel worthless.

It has also been revealed the omnishambles Universal Credit programme isn’t expected to be fully operational until December 2023. The system was intended to be up and running by April 2017, but it has been beset by problems. A few mediocre concessions are also under consideration, including continuing to pay certain benefits for two weeks after a claim has been made, and ambiguous promises to deliver additional support for selfemployed claimants.

It takes chutzpah to spin these monumental errors as a positive outcome for the “just about managing”; unfortunately, the Tories are too incompetent to maintain this transparent deceit.

Daniel Pitt

Mountain Ash

Then for just a brief moment everyone and everything faded out as the Queen spoke to them David Prichard Rumney