Think Boris’ empty promises show he is out of touch

I HAVE noticed that during the last week, a groundswell of opinion, especially among council leaders and people in the North of England, is indicating great mistrust of the actions the Government may or may not be taking to counteract the pandemic. It appears this results from the many uncertainties that people are having to deal with at the moment. I am afraid that the keynote speech of our PM this week did very little to allay the fears which many people have.

Many face the prospect of unemployment or are actually unemployed. All our PM can do is give glib statements about building back better. I really don’t think he has the faintest idea of what many people are facing, especially when furlough ends. Many people have years of experience and confidence in the jobs they have at present, and will not appreciate being told that they may well have to retrain for jobs which don’t yet exist or perhaps never will! Many of these jobs to which he refers are just pie in the sky, and he has the audacity to suggest that all will be well. It just goes to show how out of touch he is with the lives of ordinary people. They need the certainty of continuing to earn a decent income. Many have mortgages and families.

Judging by the Government’s lamentable performance so far, including their apparent unwillingness to take on board measures being used successfully by other governments in the Europe, I see no prospect of any improvement in the situation.

The PM needs to be replaced by someone who can do the job with at least some level of success. Judging by the attitude of some of his backbenchers towards him, this might well happen sooner than later.

GW Hopkins

Merthyr Tydfil

THE ambush of Geraint Thomas in the Giro d’Italia by a freak incident had me pondering on the business of luck. There are three degrees of luck, perfectly reflected by the ever reliable set of traffic lights.

Red suggests the “good luck” of winning the lottery or Premium Bonds jackpot, or indeed your local raffle. But these are pure games of chance with no input from the winner. Yes, buying a ticket could be good luck, but think of the endless bad luck of tickets that don’t win.

Amber is God slamming shut the door – but leaving a nearby one off the latch. Luck here is best described as those who are fortunately blessed with a network of family, friends and colleagues who point in the direction of the unlatched door – but you actually have to push against it.

Green is interesting. We all know individuals who cruise down life’s middle lane as if some unseen power – God, Mother Nature, Lady Luck, Old Father Time, Mrs Jones Next Door – is clearing a path for them. And the rest of us, who either trundle along the inside lane or zoom down the outside lane, occasionally, or indeed regularly, trip over the obstructions cleared off the middle lane by than unseen power.

Poor Geraint is a perfect example of the latter. All the experts agree that his many race crashes are hardly ever his fault but a consequence of outside forces putting him in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Those wayward dislodged drink bottles caused by the Giro peloton travelling too fast over a cobbled section in the neutral zone missed all the other 170 riders, but one decided to lodge itself under Geraint’s back wheel – and down he came.

How such a talented rider – seemingly living life in the middle lane away from his bike – can be so unlucky when on his bike is a mystery. Fortunately, he found himself in the middle lane to win the Tour de France, although he came within a whisker of crashing during that final time trial to seal his win. Phew!

But what is that magical DNA molecule that makes some lucky people – well, lucky? Answers on the back of a lottery ticket!

Huw Beynon

Llandeilo

I really don’t think the PM has the faintest idea of what many people are facing...

GW Hopkins Merthyr Tydfil

Castle Street must be reopened soon

I AGREE with your correspondents concerning the current closure to motorised traffic in Castle Street.

As has been stated High/St Mary Streets are already closed to traffic, and seemingly would be suitable for this type of catering. The other possibility could be that the tables/canopies are moved on to the lawns fronting the castle.

Personally, I have found it very inconvenient as I have, like others, had to drive via Western Avenue from Cardiff East, to get to St David’s Hospital where I need to go on a regular basis. This, presumably, adds to the emissions which we are trying to reduce.

This is a main arterial road and needs to be reopened tout de suite. Freda Salway

Cardiff