LETTERS

Eurovision spite

Why on Earth do we enter the Eurovision Song Contest? all it does is give the other countries in Europe the opportunity to ridicule our participant to show what they think of the UK. There is no contest involved at all, just spite.

PHIL NORTH, Brigg, Lincs. shouldn’t it be called the Eurovision Song Con-test? VINCENT HEFTER, Richmond, Surrey.

Bumbling Boris

Boris Johnson is a bumbling buffoon who is well educated, but not in the things that matter.

However, the Conservatives badly need someone who is popular with the public because the country has to be saved from the nightmare prospect of Chairman Corbyn.

JOHN EVANS, Wokingham, Berks. THE one person who can unite this country, put a smile back into politics and see the UK leave the EU is Boris Johnson. More importantly, he can stop the rise of the hard- Left, particularly among the young who are so in love with Comrade Corbyn.

Boris has a magnetism that appeals across the wider community.

GEOFFREY J. HARRIS, Holme-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. call me old-fashioned, but i would like our next PM to be statesmanlike and not an adult version of Just William who slouches about, hands in pockets, with his shirt hanging out.

GRAHAM KIRK, Northampton.

No to obscenity

i was disgusted to see Vince Cable unveiling the Lib dems’ obscene Brexit slogan.

So i was pleased to witness my newly elected Lib dem councillor, a middle-aged lady, climb a wall to destroy a notice with this slogan stuck on a signpost near a school.

Name supplied, Sheffield.

True poverty

THE five MPs who head the all-parliamentary groups on school food and hunger should question the parents of the 4.1 million children in the UK they say are growing up in poverty (Letters).

do these parents not receive child benefit and other payments?

When my brother and i were born during the war, there was no NHS, no social security and no help. We lost two lodgings to the bombs as well as everything we owned.

our mother managed to pay rent, feed us — though often not herself — and buy second-hand clothes and shoes. despite all the difficulties, my childhood was very happy.

What has changed today when there is so much help for poor families? True poverty is an outside toilet, no bathroom and condensation running down the walls. Parents must take responsibility for their children — it can’t all be left up to the government.

WENDY MERRITT, Stevenage, Herts. WE didn’t have the latest smartphone, pocket money, takeaways or new trainers, but when i was growing up we always had breakfast before we went to school.

Those of us who have lived through real deprivation wonder at today’s criteria for poverty.

ALAN STACKMAN, Calne, Wilts.

Pain of mental illness

i was moved by actor david Harewood’s account of his descent into mental illness in a BBC documentary. i give talks on a carer’s perspective in mental illness and am well aware of how painful it is to revisit such traumatic memories.

My son began to develop psychosis at the age of 13 and by 18 needed referral to mental health services.

Though he was living at home with me and his two younger sisters, because of confidentiality we were not told of his diagnosis or what the treatment involved.

it was the worst time of my life. Today, with my support and that of mental health staff, my son manages the basics of daily living, but has no meaningful life.

His abilities and talents are forgotten and he has no friends or social life. a real poverty of quality of life.

Mrs PAT ROSS, Headington, Oxon.

Duty as a GP

Dr Keith Wolverson is under investigation after asking a Muslim woman to raise her veil (Mail).

Some years ago, i refused to examine a lady in Blackburn in a burka. She had a chest complaint, but only exposed a tiny part of her thorax. My responsibility as a gp out-weighed the consequences. Dr GORDON KHAN, Skelmersdale, Lancs. i was concerned to hear of the plight of readers when trying to book a gp appointment (Letters).

We are well served where i live. Calls go straight to the surgery and the receptionists are delightful.

you can also walk in and book an appointment. When i had a badly infected thumb, the receptionist made sure i was seen by the gp in half an hour. i only hope that if the threatened local development of more than 100 houses occurs, we aren’t left in the same situation as your unfortunate correspondents.

Miss F. M. LATTY, East Bridgford, Notts.

Stress of SATs

i Was interested to see the article ‘don’t ask if pupils are ok, it’s stressful! (Mail)’. i have seen the stress that can be caused to some children when faced with SATS tests and it has nothing to do with a wellmeant question or a pat on the back from the headteacher.

SATS can undermine a child’s selfesteem and do nothing to further their development and education.

during SATS week, the tests are rigorously controlled with strict timing, rigid positioning of the pupils and a plethora of other measures. There is no other occasion at primary school when children are made to work under such conditions. While assisting with Sats last week, i was

reminded why I left my job as a primary classroom teacher.

I was saddened to witness children’s stress when there could be so much more to primary education. Mrs DENISE HARVEY,

Little Eaton, Derbys. WHEN I was at school, we had tests every day, such as ones on spelling and times tables. I passed the 11-plus and went to a grammar school where we had two hours of homework each night.

If it wasn’t handed in the next day, there would be detention. Perhaps if today’s children went to bed on time, had their phone time reduced and did some exercise with their mates instead of endlessly checking social media, they would feel less stressed. DAVID CRITCHLEY,

Eccleston, Lancs. ‘DON’T ask if pupils are OK’ — what a load of PC nonsense! If this is the only stress youngsters experience, they are lucky. Don’t turn children into snowflakes — we have enough of those in our universities. DEIRDRE LEWIS,

London W11.

Taking the biscuit

A CITY council has ruled that a Women’s Institute group can no longer bake cakes for a hospice unless members’ kitchens are inspected and granted a hygiene certificate (Mail).

How many people have been poisoned by any of the millions of cakes baked by the WI in its 100-plus-year history?

Council jobsworths should apply themselves as assiduously to the aspects of our lives that need their attention and pose real threats to the safety of the public. It’s little wonder that ’elf ’n’ safety has become a joke. ROBERT READMAN, Bournemouth, Dorset. SHOULD I ever be in an hospice, please send in as much WI cake as possible. I will sign a disclaimer that if there are any ill effects of eating too much carrot cake, I will hold myself responsible. Nita WITHERS, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leics.