LETTERS

Tackle knife crime

SINCe it was decided to cut back on stop and search by the police, knife crime has escalated.

the lack of police officers on the beat due to the Government’s policies has not helped matters. there appears to be no fear of the law by knife- carrying youths pre-pared to lash out indiscriminately.

the situation is so out of control that many feel the thugs are ruling the streets of the villages, towns and cities of Britain.

the punishment must fit the crime. there should be speedy justice for carrying a knife, as well as using it to maim or kill.

Never mind the eu courts saying that whole- life sentences are inhumane — well, so is murder. It is the families of the victims who receive a life sentence.

those who have been appointed to look after the wellbeing and safety of society need to do something about the knife crime death toll, instead of simply paying lip service.

T. RITCHIE, Prenton, Wirral. It BeGGArS belief that Lord hogan-howe, the former head of the Met, has called for a knife crime tsar. No wonder we have rampant attacks around the country when the police on the front line are led by officers who do not offer practical solutions.

JOHN BIRKS, Harrogate, N. Yorks.

The real causes

WheN will the do-gooder liberals learn? trying to understand why people commit horrendous knife crimes does not save lives. hiding behind the Left-wing mantra that poverty is to blame is a sham and a cop-out. Knowing right from wrong has nothing to do with wealth.

What does play a significant role is the lack of male role models for errant young men; single-parent families who have no control over their sons; liberal, ineffective schools that have no discipline; and a legal system that has lost the plot.

C. D. FIELD, Mellieha, Malta.

Dedicated teachers

It’S so unfair to claim teachers have an easy life (Letters). Like most teachers, my daughter arrives at school before 8am to prepare paper-work and rarely leaves before 6pm.

there are late nights for parents’ evenings and staff meetings, plus home visits to new pupils to speak to parents and meet the child before term starts.

Summer holidays involve at least a week in school to prepare for the new term. Nights and weekends involve hours on end marking homework.

teacher training days occur in the holidays and then there is the stress of a looming Ofsted visit and the achievement criteria to meet.

All told, teachers can find themselves working 60 hours a week. Compare that to your cushy 40-hour-a-week job and count yourself lucky.

D. MacLENNAN, Northampton.

Probation crisis

ShOrt prison sentences of less than six months can work if the justice system, including the probation and Youth Justice Service, supports them. however, the probation service has refused point blank to engage with offenders sentenced to less than six months, so they are left to stew until their release and no attempt is made to engage with them.

We continue to see inmates released without any accommodation or a meeting with a probation worker. Any contact they have is by phone, not face to face. the result is increasing reoffending due to a lack of intervention and support.

First-stage short-term interventions can and do work — just look outside the uK for the evidence. VINCENT BERGIN, address supplied.

Two sides of the NHS

It’S not always patients to blame for missed appointments (Letters).

What about those who turn up at hospital, a confirmation letter in hand, only to be told ‘this appoint-ment has been cancelled and we’ve written to you with a new date’?

this happened to my husband a few weeks ago at our local hospital and he is still waiting for the new appointment date.

RUTH BLAIR, Romford, Essex. I AM so impressed with the efficiency of the NhS. On Monday at 9am, I was referred by my GP for an appointment to see a consultant.

On tuesday at 4pm, I was phoned by the hospital and given an appointment. Friday at 9.30am, I saw the consultant, who said I should have a procedure. Sunday at 3pm, I had a colonoscopy. All sorted in seven days.

A. A. MORTON, Hutton, Lancs.

Princess perfect

PrINCeSS ANNe deserves praise for the 20,000 royal engagements she has carried out over the past 50 years (Mail).

We were on a visit to Dunster in Somerset when the Princess arrived at the castle by helicopter for lunch with prominent local figures. A car was waiting to drive her the short

distance, but she insisted on walking so she could meet the people waiting to see her.

When I shook hands with her, I was surprised at how pretty and petite she was. What a gracious Princess.

Mrs S. A. MARTIN, Ticehurst, E. Sussex.

Cash is king

THe news that people have been unable to get their own cash from the bank because of technology breakdowns was forecast (Mail).

Those who warned about these dangers were ignored or branded Luddites.

Cash must never become a thing of the past. Why tamper with a system that has been used for thousands of years?

We should all be worried that we are sleepwalking into a cashless society. Money is solid, reliable and should be immediately available at your bank. Hard cash is common sense, so keep it that way.

DAVID HARVEY, Chippenham, Wilts.

BBC bloopers

AS TV licence fee- payers, most of the population funds the BBC, so surely we should be given a say in how it is run.

There are two things I would change immediately. first, its obsession with political correctness. People should appear on TV and radio because they have something positive to contribute, not because they tick as many boxes as possible.

Radio 2 desperately needs new leadership. Destroying Simon Mayo’s Drivetime Show by introducing co-host Jo Whiley was a disaster, and giving Zoe Ball the Breakfast Show looks to be an equally bad mistake. RUPERT HOLMES,

London SW15.

Takeaway menace

UNLIKe the residents of Worcester, I am not worried that my High Street has nine charity shops (Mail).

I am more concerned about the number of takeaways — there are five coffee shops and at least eight fast- food restaurants. The litter on the streets isn’t charity shop bags, but takeaway boxes. JENNIFER BAXTER, Acocks Green, W. Mids.

Buy British, Tom!

AS AN admirer of Tom Utley, I fear his halo has slipped.

With Brexit looming and the need to secure jobs, would it not have been more appropriate for him to buy a British-built car instead of a German-built Merc? He could have helped reverse our obsession with foreign-built cars.

DAVE PERKINS, East Challow, Oxon.