A working example
I aPPlauD t he Government’s Earning or learning For under-25s pledge. I hope, however, that this i sn’t another badly- thought- out headline-grabber that will have to be abandoned because, from personal experience, these support schemes can be just the spur young people on the dole need to better themselves.
In t he l ate Eighties, I was unemployed for about three years. This was partly of my own doing, as I had no direction, no idea which jobs suited me and lost my way a bit.
This dented my self-esteem so much
so that I ended up applying for jobs already resigned to defeat.
I was then required by the DSS (as it was then) to attend a Jobclub, four hours a day, every week or face losing my unemployment benefit.
This club taught me skills i ncluding CV layout, basic computing and interview techniques. These helped me greatly in getting a job and I’ve been in full-time employment ever since, which boosted my confidence and self respect hugely.
I agree that these schemes must be closely monitored to ensure companies don’t use them as an alternative to offering full or part-time paid work, however, I strongly believe that the able-bodied unemployed must be required to attend training or c ommunity i mprovement projects.
Signing on every two weeks and doing nothing in between should not be an option.
This only creates a disillusioned, unskilled, marginalised sector who see benefit reliance as normal and don’t f eel a valid part of society.
Being ‘forced’ to attend training for my benefits worked for me and I’ve never looked back. It can also work for others.
MICHAEL MoRRoW, Glasgow.
No change
THE announcement that, in another hand-out of our money, £3 million is being given for even more climate change research and taking Prestwick airport into public ownership prompts the question: is pollution from aircraft not considered detrimental to t he climate?
The plan must be to grow the business for return to the private sector.
yet again, more public money i s being spent on climate change beliefs when breast cancer sufferers are denied a life-changing drug, plus those thousands of people who are in fuel debt and worried about keeping the lights on.
It’s time the Government had a very long hard look at its policies which are basically driven by a few.
The perception out here in the real world is that climate change policy takes precedence over the welfare of the Scottish people.
IAN TERRY, Pinmore, Ayrshire.
Redknapp’s wrong
WHy provide Harry Redknapp with a forum to ‘throw his toys out of the cot’, ridiculing the Fa and Roy Hodgson j ust because he didn’t get the England job (Mail)? Roy Hodgson has a hard enough task without his fellow managers l ambasting him. Even though I’m a Scot, I hope England do qualify, as I admire Hodgson and — after Scotland — I support any other British team.
Mr Redknapp showed himself for what he i s, proving to everyone that the Fa was 100 per cent correct in not selecting him. as for him saying that he made Gareth Bale a superstar, it’s a pity his socalled greatness didn’t keep QPR in the Premier league. JoHN McGETTRICK, Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
Yankee doodle didn’t
a uS federal budget problem like the one happening now affected our holiday 17 years ago.
We landed in los angeles and travelled across the southern states for a couple of months, calling in on family and friends in la, San Diego, albuquerque, Phoenix, oklahoma and South Carolina.
We couldn’t believe that famous tourist attractions such as angel Falls, the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest were all shut.
To top it all, in Washington DC, on the day before we were due to fly home, we tried to visit the White House — it was shut for Christmas decorating.
KEITH HALLAM, Blackpool.