Give honours to REAL heroes, not sports stars
The New Year’s honours list for 2017 was said to recognise the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom.
So we should congratulate and recognise all the members of the RNLI, and all the other rescue services, whose voluntary work often goes unrewarded.
Let’s remember with gratitude and respect men such as the crew of the Penlee lifeboat who went to the aid of the vessel Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas off the coast of Cornwall in December 1981.
After the lifeboatmen had rescued four people, both vessels were lost with all hands. In all, 16 people died, including eight volunteers.
Such people put their lives at risk daily, and yet even if they are honoured — and most are not — they are ranked beneath people such as actor Sir Mark Rylance and tennis player Sir Andy Murray, and alongside those such as the head of hMRC personal tax operations customer services.
While not wanting to belittle the achievements of our Olympic and professional athletes, we must remember that many are sponsored by Lottery funding and are well rewarded. And, judging by the number of people honoured for services to cycling, we should all be on two wheels.
I agree that it might have been fitting to honour athletes when they were amateurs, working full time and training in poor facilities, but those days are long gone.
It’s time political cronies, placemen, professional sportspeople and entertainers were ignored and credit given to the extraordinary people who give their time — and often their lives — to help and save their fellow men.
DaviD SunDerlanD, leeds.
Call in the Army
The call has gone out to enlist the doctors of the British Army to support the Scottish NhS in its hour of need. (Mail)
The report that the town of Stranraer and areas such as the peninsula of Ardnamurchan could soon be without GP cover is disgraceful.
But why stop there? The Royal engineers could be called in to sort out the troubled ScotRail debacle and assist people who want to get to work. The Royal Pioneer Corps could be activated to get our road system back in order and fill up the potholes.
The Royal Military Police could underpin the depleted Police Scotland and give us a reassuring presence on our streets.
The potential seems to be endless, but if a legitimate way could be found for the military to take over the Scottish Government that would be the biggest boost of all.
John Falconer, Buckie, Banffshire. WhAT a sorry day when an MSP has to suggest the gaps in GP cover be filled by the Army (Mail).
I am not sure Finlay Carson’s suggestion for Wigtownshire will come to anything, but it is clear the crisis is deepening.
Where is the SNP on this? Probably blaming Westminster and saying the NhS is worse in england under the Tories and in Wales under Labour.
Tom DaviDSon, Glasgow.
Sculptor success
BLACKSMITh and artist Martin Galbavy (Mail) has produced the most beautiful sculpture I have seen in years. It puts efforts such as Turner prize entries to shame.
I found the piece, a 20ft-high figure of a World War I soldier that was constructed from scrap metal, to be extremely moving and consider whoever commissioned and owns it to be very lucky.
SanDra Kozian, cardigan.
Sickening shambles
SO doctors say the NhS is close to meltdown.
This should come as no surprise. how many hospital beds have been ‘lost’ since the Government came to power? Best estimates are 20,000-plus beds lost due to underinvestment in the NhS.
Problems with A&e departments? how many has the Government closed in the UK with NhS reforms? how many nurses has the NhS lost due to changes to student funding?
The Tories have always had a plan to turn the NhS into a service run by the private sector, the idea being if you cannot afford private healthcare you don’t get treatment.
a. reid, Glasgow.
Poor business plan
NICOLA Sturgeon has come out fighting about Brexit. She has warned Westminster she means business.
however, if you look at her argument there is a fatal flaw. She claims Theresa May has no idea what Brexit means for the country and that chaos will ensue. Is that not exactly Nicola Sturgeon’s position over Scottish independence?
Where are the First Minister’s unassailable plans for currency, hard borders, Scotland’s ability to borrow, eU acceptance of Scottish membership and so on?
Miss Sturgeon may make her trademark vague promises to the Scottish electorate but she has no real idea of what she is letting Scotland in for.
Yet she has brought this sad state of affairs upon herself.
The SNP was let off the hook in 2014 when it lost the first referendum, because we all know now how badly wrong that would have gone. Miss Sturgeon’s huge mistake was not to learn from history and quietly drop the idea of independence. Now she is fighting for survival.
Attack may be the best form of defence, but not when your case is a shambles.
GeralD eDwarDS, Glasgow. NICOLA Sturgeon now tells the UK Government that, if we remain within the eU single market, she will shelve IndyRef 2.
This is the woman who said the last independence referendum was ‘once in a generation’ event.
She simply doesn’t understand that the UK as a whole, of which Scotland is but a part, voted for Brexit — to take back control, not to continue taking instructions from unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. even large numbers of her own party supported Brexit. anDrew whiTe, livingston,
west lothian.
BBC Brexit bias
hAS anyone else noticed that the anti-Brexit BBC (especially Radio 4 news) now invariably qualifies any positive economic news or statement with a ‘BUT’ followed by some negative comment.
For example: ‘New car sales are at a record high BUT were down in December.’ Well, they usually are before Christmas. Or: ‘Retail sales are up strongly BUT inflation is expected to creep in the next few months.’
This happens almost every time. I haven’t heard a positive economic statement that hasn’t been followed by a ‘but’ from Radio 4 in the past three months. raymonD norman, hemingstone, Suffolk.
Secret shame
ARe the likes of Jonathan Powell and Sir Ivan Rogers not subject to the Official Secrets Act 1989 as are my wife and I, who were, by comparison, minor civil servants?
When we joined the civil service — and again when we left — we were required to sign a declaration that we would not disclose any information that we had come by in our work.
Is it one rule for the minnows and another for the big fish?
ray JohnSon, eastbourne, e. Sussex.
Lost in translation
MP Chuka Umunna says the host nation is obliged to fund english language classes for immigrants as immigration is a two-way street.
If I emigrated, I would not expect the host nation to fund language lessons. Get real Chuka!
J. walmSley, Bury, lancs.
Hope is worth struggle
WhILe absorbing another morning of news and opinion — the terrorism, politics, poverty and pain — I was wondering: why the endless struggle?
And then I lifted my eyes and saw the answer: a beaming young couple with their happy little girl entered the cafe. The beauty of hope. marK Dyer, rockingham, western australia.