Well, lord love a duck!
WHAT a wonderful, uplifting story (Teesside mum amazed after eggs she bought in Morrisons hatch into three pet ducklings, Teesside Live, 05.07.22).
Ms Empson really is the ducks’ mum in their eyes. As any A-level psychology student knows, Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz is credited with the discovery of ‘imprinting,’ whereby precocious (ie, can see immediately once born) animals (eg, ducks) make an attachment or bond with the very first moving object they encounter.
Ms Empson has them for a while yet. And they will follow her pretty much everywhere. Imprinting cannot be forgotten! DR MICHAEL SHEARD,
Northallerton
Cutting fuel tax is logical thing to do
THERE is something wrong with the tax on fuel at the pumps in this country.
The reason I say this is because in the rest of Europe both fuels are on average 20p a litre cheaper than here. So if the
Chancellor cut fuel duty by 20p a litre this would not only help the motorist but the whole of the community and he would still be collecting more tax on fuel than he did before the pandemic – and the war in Ukraine. So why is he not doing so? KEITH JACKSON,
Guisborough
Personal ambition put before country
YET again, original Remoaners Javid and Sunak put their own personal ambitions before public service in another botched coup aimed at toppling Boris Johnson.
Instead of helping our country move forward in the postBrexit era, Javid and Sunak join the likes of Keir Starmer in trying to yet again undermine the freedom of a nation.
If I was Boris, I would stand up to those trying to derail his vision by making them reapply to be Conservative candidates and let the association bring in fresh blood ready for a snap General Election and the ultimate regaining of power and authority for Boris in this testing post-Brexit era. GEOFFREY BROOKING,
via email
Education system needs to change
IT is the law in the UK that you have to stay in education until the age of 18, be that at a college or by starting a trainee or apprenticeship.
In the UK education system it is agreed that young workingclass boys come out worst with lack of exam passes and lack of job opportunities as more and more jobs require university degrees. Taking this on board – that white working-class boys are poorly served by our education system – what is the point of them being in school, as they leave education based on their date of birth not on the fact they are educated.
So the education system needs to change.
A test should be set at, say, age 14, and students can pass this test to prove they can read, write and add up.
Then they should be sent out in to the work place to go on life’s great adventure.
ANDREW STEPHENSON,
Stockton-on-Tees