Raise our tax but nail those dodgers first
From: ME Wright, Harrogate.
WE clap every Thursday for the NHS and all those striving to keep HMS UK safe and afloat.
I’ll also be clapping for David Collins and his informative exposé on the squalid techniques of tax dodgers and their apologists (The Yorkshire Post, May 7).
In the spring of 2016, we were treated to the Panama Papers, revelations of dodging on an industrial scale.
Politicians were implicated, some of whom ended up in court but not in the UK. David Cameron continued to justify the spurious legality of all this while demanding yet more “efficiency savings” in vital public services.
I could not agree more with David (Collins) when he points out the need for more taxation to fund the NHS – and other ingredients of a civilised nation.
However, before I and thousands like me are taxed further, what about sending a fiscal gunboat round the Cayman Islands on something more purposeful than a courtesy call?
From: Michael J Robinson, Berry Brow, Huddersfield.
WITH regard to claims that proportional representation be introduced in the UK, how long did it take for Belgium to decide who won their general election?
Do we know yet who won the Irish general election?
Do I understand correctly that the main parties in Israel have agreed to share their country’s government half each?
In the UK we know who won a general election the following day.
From: Paul Brown,
Bents Green Road, Sheffield.
WHILE on lockdown there is an opportunity for small businesses to reassess their business model and investigate ways of delivering a more profitable future.
It is possible to buy goods directly from foreign manufacturers – for example alpaca wool clothing from Peru.
The retail price of these products will never compete with high street stores but it does give shops in our market towns an opportunity to sell something different.
Local businesses can be successful in this way, provided they buy from the smaller manufacturers that cannot supply the volume of goods needed by high street chains.
From: Peter Moreland, Harewood Avenue, Heckmondwike.
VE Day – Victory in Europe – and, coincidentally, 75 years later, the worst in Europe for Covid-19 deaths.
How can countries like South Korea, Germany, Greece and others come through this relatively unscathed while we are shutting doors after the horse has bolted?
Daily briefings report another 4,000-plus cases each day but testing has hit the 100,000-a-day target only once.
We hear waffle about the five tests but seem no closer to a conclusion. When it comes, it will be more luck than good management.
From: CJ Ball, Finkil Street, Hove Edge, Brighouse.
I DON’T suppose I am unique of my generation in having vivid memories of VE Day celebrations.
I lived in a small village called Langley Burrell, near Chippenham in Wiltshire.
My father had been a security manager for the Ministry of Air Production during the war, which brought a larger salary, a car and a petrol allowance. He organised a village party on the drive at our home.
I remember helping to carry the trestle tables and seats from the pub next door. Someone had rustled up some bunting.
The repast relied heavily on fizzy pop, sandwiches, which were largely courtesy of Mr Shippam, and pasties and cakes due to the generosity of local farms and sacrificed ration-book allowances.
I don’t remember hearing the news of VE Day specifically. But I do remember clearly the headmistress, Sister Norbertine, at the convent school I attended, coming into the classroom to announce VJ Day and leading us in three cheers.
Once again in my life, I give thanks to all those who have been and are making such enormous sacrifices on our behalf.
From: Andrew Smith, Chapel Hill Road, Pocklington, York.
THANK you, Jayne Dowle, for your excellent article on how you and your family intended to celebrate VE Day (The Yorkshire Post, May 7).
I was struck by the fact her father was 18 months old on that date, making him virtually the same age as myself.
I confess I have no recollection of any festivities and, giving it some thought, cannot ever recollect the war and its tribulations being mentioned in any detail in the family in later years. It seems everyone was able to knuckle down and look forward to rebuilding their lives, rather than back.
From: James Devereaux, Quorn Crescent, Stourbridge.
I HAVE just completed reading Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby during lockdown and am writing to ask if one of your locals could confirm whether his interpretation of Yorkshire character John Browdie’s accent is accurately portrayed by Dickens’s phonetics.
To my untrained ear, the text appears more representative of Tyneside/Geordie. I would appreciate your comment.
From: Ian Heszelgrave, Church Lane, Swillington, Leeds.
ON HS2, it’s time for the UK to stop and think as a nation what is important: social care to be part of the NHS. Then we can truly be from cradle to grave.