A sharper look but it’s still Red Jez underneath
HAS Jeremy Corbyn had a cosmetic makeover?
His grey designer stubble has rapidly matured into a full-grown white beard.
Gone are the grubby brown jackets and crumpled shirt collars, to be replaced by tailored navy or black suits and crisp white shirts, offset by a red tie. The old specs have been traded in for designer glasses.
The Labour Party PR people have clearly got to work in readiness for a General Election, as they did with Harold Wilson in 1963. He swapped cigars for a pipe, brought home a labrador and took to wearing a utilitarian Gannex raincoat, donated by his friend Joe Kagan . . . all the trappings of a thoughtful, thrifty post- war socialist leader in the making.
Like Corbyn, Wilson had been linked to the Communist Party and the Far Left and seemed happy to adjust his image to make him more voter-friendly.
It is to be hoped today’s voters will not be so gullible and will look beyond the cosmetic veneer. TONY EDWARDS, Ockham, Surrey. IT WILL take more than swapping his anorak for a new suit to make an old dog like Jeremy Corbyn come up with any new tricks.
JOHN EVANS, Wokingham, Berks.
Casual coppers
WITH all the current criticism of the police ( Mail), I am truly embarrassed to admit I had a 30-year career as a police officer.
When I joined the police force (not service) it was a vocation, not a chapter in your life to put on a CV for better things to come or to pay off a student loan.
Today’s recruits are leaving the job after just five years.
The basic skills of walking the beat, checking properties back and front and talking to people have evaporated. I knew every resident in the village I patrolled.
I took it as an insult if someone committed a crime on my beat, especially when I was on duty, and took it upon myself to find out what was happening. I didn’t want a rest day in case I missed something of interest!
I remember receiving an almighty rollicking from my inspector when he caught me with one hand in my pocket. Have a look at today’s police officers with caps under theirs arms, both hands in their pockets and poorly fitting uniforms. It’s a crying shame that standards have slipped. Something needs to be done.
STEVE SCOTT, Ainsdale, Merseyside.
Commons chaos
BREXIT has clearly demonstrated that when several entrenched groups hold conflicting opinions, it is impossible to arrive at reasoned, sensible conclusions.
There has been a failure to achieve any acceptable compromise. Parliament has descended into disarray and become the laughing stock of the world.
The Government has fallen apart and allowed the Commons to be the decision-maker, but still no compromise solution has been reached. The result has been stalemate — never-ending rounds of argument and pointless voting with no final decision. Sadly, the clowns we pay to run this country’s affairs appear to be obsessed with their personal aspirations and agendas, rather than with serving the electorate.
The sight of MPs disregarding their party whips in Commons votes proves any political system that encourages ‘ rule by committee’ is unworkable.
It is all the proof we need that we should never adopt proportional representation.
JIM CROTTY, Ashby de-la-Zouch, Leics.
Trumpeting Trump
IT’S bad enough that Donald Trump is receiving the honour of a full state visit after his discourteous behaviour towards the Queen on his last visit.
It’s bad enough that he became President after losing the popular vote in 2016 by three million votes.
It’s bad enough that UK taxpayers are forking out for this visit to inflate his already grotesquely swollen ego still further. But the timing of the visit — coinciding with the 75th anniversary of D-Day — is an insult to all those who gave their lives fighting Fascism when Trump avoided military service.
MIKE WRIGHT, Nuneaton, Warks.
Climate dreamers
WHAT does Extinction Rebellion want? It calls on the Government to act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025, but doesn’t explain how this can happen.
I assume this means removing all petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles from the roads, ending rail and air travel and banning any gas or wood-fired central heating, cooking or electricity generation by 2025.
How could this be achieved in six years? Where would the money come from to achieve it? What would happen to all the vehicles, generators, cookers and boilers? And what would it mean for anyone who had to travel, or businesses that rely on transport?
If Extinction Rebellion is so clear about its demands, please can it show us how they could be met.
A. MACAULAY, West Kirby, Wirral.
Stolen identity
LIKE Michael Cole, I found out how easy it is for a crook to open a bank account in my name (Money Mail).
Just before Easter I received a bank debit card from NatWest, with a letter telling me I would receive the PIN in a few days. But I don’t bank with NatWest.
Two days later, I had a letter from the bank’s fraud department. I visited a local branch and was told that someone had opened an account three weeks ago with my name, address and date of birth, lodged some money, then applied for a large overdraft.
The account was instantly closed and my details were circulated to other banks to warn of the theft of my identity. I was impressed with the speed of this action, which shows the banks are working to beat this rising crime.
GORDON WALL, Wokingham, Berks.
Energy credit catch
THE advice to overpay energy firms (Money Mail) surprised me because for four years I have tried unsuccessfully to do exactly this.
I would like to set my direct payments on a fixed-term tariff, so I build up credit during the summer to carry me through winter. However, the British Gas computer system does not allow me to do this.
As soon as I build up credit, it reduces my direct debit payments or refunds the money. Several phone calls have produced the response ‘there’s nothing we can do — it’s just the computer’. The end result is that British Gas then has to increase the direct debits to cover the inevitable arrears.
JOHN SMITH, Warrington, Cheshire.
In Mum’s day...
I WAS so sorry to read how today’s wives and mothers are under so much pressure because of the unfair demands put on them by modern lifestyles (Mail).
My mum had it so easy by comparison. After Dad signed up for the Royal Artillery in 1939, when I was one and my sister was six, she saw him just four times in six years. Just to make things easier for her, she didn’t have to bother with a fridge, washing machine, freezer, electric iron, central heating, double glazing, a telephone, TV, car or hot water on tap. Add to that food and clothes rationing and, for some light relief, an occasional dash to the air-raid shelter.
Regardless of the hardships, my childhood memories are only happy ones of love and caring. Well done, Mum.
JOHN COYLE, Wombourne, Staffs.