We need more Christmas spirit, not advertising
It’s shocking to see the obscene advertising budgets allocated by retail giants to the annual extravaganza still called Christmas, although Christ is ignored.
John Lewis gave us a charming story of a family, a fox, a dog and a trampoline. the missing element? How about a disadvantaged Middle Eastern Jewish baby boy, whose later teachings became the blueprint for leading a decent life?
Much to the annoyance of my shopping companions, I tend to ask shop assistants if they are selling anything that relates to the real story of Christmas. I am met with puzzled faces, especially in larger retail outlets. singing trees, silver penguins and glass polar bears play a far more significant part in the 2016 Christmas story.
I haven’t worshipped in a church of any denomination for decades and regard myself as a humanist, so don’t call me Bible-bashing, racist or small-minded.
Among British virtues is that most people still draw on the examples of good living embedded in Christian doctrine.
the further we drift from those values, the less pleasant our society becomes. Our tendency to selfeffacement, as well as to multiculturalism and political correctness has confined our Anglo-saxon Christian identity to a corner.
Please, retailers, don’t play this game. Families should place a Nativity scene in their home and tell the story to their children. Educators shouldn’t be blackmailed, frightened or embarrassed into removing all traces of the Nativity from their winter curriculum. Christmas is a Christian festival, and there should be no shame in saying so.
MARY PHILLIPS, Torquay, Devon.
Lacking festive joy
I tRY to avoid spending all my money online at Christmas and do my bit to patronise local shops and smaller cafes when I take a break.
But I have to agree with Emma Cowing (Mail) that service at this time of year can be dreadful.
I appreciate some places are extra busy, but the staff seem to think that’s a bad thing.
Maybe it’s the constantly repeating Christmas music in stores that makes staff grumpy. But please, is a smile for the paying customer too much to ask?
nAn AnDeRSon, Glasgow.
We Muslim women
AHMAdI Muslim women are well integrated into British society (Mail) because Ahmadi Muslim imams and mosques support women’s equality.
Ahmadi mosques — the first in London was established in 1924 — offer an equal space for Ahmadi Muslim women.
there are religious and secular training programmes for girls from the age of seven, educating and empowering them to excel in learning and to use that knowledge to contribute to society. As a result, Ahmadi Muslim women in Britain include mothers, doctors, teachers, scientists and journalists — not despite Islam, but because of it.
Our supreme Imam, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, says being loyal to the country one lives in is part of the Islamic faith. that’s why scarf-wearing Ahmadi Muslim women volunteers raise thousands for UK charities and support women’s shelters across Britain.
Integration doesn’t mean losing the right to be who we are. We can embrace differences in religion and culture while collectively contributing to a better Britain.
Mrs FARZAnA YoUSUF, Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s
Association (UK), London.
Energy casualties
sMALL energy suppliers are starting to go bust because they can’t supply energy at the prices they promised. GB Energy has failed, and its customers will be handed to Co-op Energy (Mail), who will honour the low prices customers signed up for and cover the costs of their unfulfilled credit.
Who is paying for this? Logic suggests it must be Co-op Energy’s existing customers.
Co-op Energy raised its prices this year, before most other suppliers. What did it know?
It gained a lot of new customers a few years ago with a cheap deal. Following a computer ‘upgrade’, the company plummeted from being the UK’s most trusted supplier to near the bottom of the customer service league. the cheap deal, now long gone, oversubscribed the company.
Now other suppliers seem to have got their timing badly wrong and are likely to go under, leaving other suppliers to pick up the bills. Yet the Government is eager to encourage energy suppliers to drop prices further, while allowing them to ‘share’ customers’ details with other companies for advertising purposes. this goes against all the rules of privacy and data security.
Ofgem should make sure all energy suppliers have sufficient cash reserves.
JeAn FeRRATT, Luton, Beds.
SNP education failures
JUst when we need to equip our children for the global jobs market, along comes the sNP with an inward-looking agenda.
scottish education always included a good grounding in the likes of Burns and Lewis Grassic Gibbon, but to try to pretend that only domestic talents have any worth is a mistake.
More damaging still is the use of scots language in schools.
the odd old scots word might be a bit of fun but to pretend it is suitable for widespread use beyond scotland is actively damaging our children’s chances.
FRAnK THoMSon, Dundee.
Protecting public safety
FOOd standards scotland would like to reiterate that cheese produced by Errington Cheese Ltd has not been cleared as ‘safe to eat’ by Food standards scotland as it poses a risk to public health.
Food standards scotland considered several strands of evidence before requesting these products be withdrawn from sale.
the business remains closed until such time as the deficiencies in the food safety management system have been addressed. Food standards scotland’s actions during this outbreak in which 11 people were hospitalised and a child died were taken in the interests of protecting public safety. I and Food standards scotland’s team of experts stand by our decision that the right course of action has been taken to protect public health. GeoFF oGLe, chief executive,
Food Standards Scotland.
Broken promises
I WAs reminded of the great promise made by the sNP a decade ago: ‘We will free you from the iniquitous burden of the council tax.’ What the sNP has actually done is to keep this regressive tax and it intends to increase the top bands. the fact that this will unfairly affect the many older people who are asset rich but cash poor doesn’t seem to matter.
When faced with a struggling education system where staff are demoralised and sinking under the weight of administration and bureaucracy what does the sNP do? It introduces another level of testing. Madness you may think.
In case anybody may hold the sNP responsible for the mess, Nicola sturgeon is going to move the responsibility for education from local authorities to schools, the implication being that the local authorities are responsible for the mess. the NHs is at breaking point, particularly in accident and emergency and general practice. this has been caused mainly by a poor level of recruitment of suitable staff. One might have thought in the past ten years the sNP might have seen the problem coming.
the Named Person is another dangerous fiasco. Miss sturgeon states that: ‘the Named Person will only give advice at the request of a parent or a young person.’ the fact that this is contradicted by her legal advisers doesn’t matter.
the sNP is great at setting ‘challenging targets’ but the important question is how many have these been met. I would suggest none.
How does the sNP get away with it? Unfortunately there is no effective opposition and it is sad that the two major opposition parties are vying with each other to be the official opposition. that is to say second best. Who will help us get out of the mess? JoHn RIMMeR, Hamilton, Lanarkshire.
Prison then and now
I, tOO, spent the dubious sixmonths-to-two-years Borstal in Guys Marsh (Letters) in 1969.
I spent 30 days in punishment for tobacco smuggling. We were woken at 6am for circuit training. All bedding and the bed were placed outside the cell all day. We were allowed a small table and chair for eating meals. daytime was more Pt or menial work.
We weren’t allowed to speak to each other until the evening, while we were employed sorting used postage stamps for charity.
Each cell floor had a white spot painted about 5ft from the door. When we heard a key in the lock, we had to stand to attention on the spot and shout our names and numbers to whoever entered. the only book allowed was the Bible.
I couldn’t believe the way Guys Marsh is being run today.
AnTHonY ConnoLLY, Birmingham.
Even lighter brigade
IN the Charge of the Light Brigade poem that John Cooper (Mail) used to illustrate the problems facing Finance secretary derek Mackay, tennyson talks about ‘the 600’ riding towards Russian cannon in the Valley of death.
defence cuts under both the Labour Party and the tories mean the Light Brigade would be down to about 200 now.
ALASTAIR CAMeRon, Perth.
Queen’s £25k visit
LAst month, the Queen visited the town council in Newmarket. she apparently had a good time before flying to sandringham for lunch, having turned down an offer of free fish and chips. Her visit cost the town council £25,000, but it seems this was too much, as they are now seeking to make savings: this year there will be no Christmas lights on Newmarket High street.
When local businesses criticised the council about this, the Mayor said: ‘We’re not the EU; you can’t have your cake and eat it.’ ARTHUR RoBeRTS, newmarket, Suffolk.