Time for Apple to contribute to pot

SINCE Apple Inc appears inadvertently to have not got round to paying some UK taxes, perhaps its users should all consider contributing £10 per product to the public purse so as to compensate for our depleted government funds for health, education, transport, etc? MICHAEL HOWARD Newcastle TAKE a slow, meandering walk around, The streets and alleys of Newcastle town. Witness people strolling, cycling and bustling, Window shopping or just sitting down. In deckchairs, relaxing, At the “screen on the green”. Or at the Monument, watch a busker From some obscure music scene. Café windows, with living mannequins, Drinking coffee, conversing, eating food. Patrons unknowingly as constant adverts, In as much as, where it`s full must be good. Central Station, the heart, trains like blood flowing, A constant coming and going, like ants to a hill. Checking tickets, luggage and timetables, Eyes roaming, while shuffling, they never stand still. Grainger Market and Central arcade, Iconic relics, Theatres of life from a sad to say bygone age. Fresh fish and meat, direct from the monger, “Three for a pound hinny” sales acted out centre stage. Teenage boys, sit in groups, laughing and nudging, As young prima Donnas, texting on phones, walk by. Couples, hand in hand, with bags by their sides, Scurry for cover as rain falls from a grey heavy sky. Homeless sit in doorways, wishing well, To those who spare a few pence to help them today. Until the “Hobby Bobbies” exercise their nonexistent power, And move them with threats of detainment, on their way. Life unrolls, like a constant “soap” before our eyes, We’re all thespians on the streets of the town. A play without script, a never ending act, Seen if you raise your head and have a good look around. JEFF NEWTON Stanley