Daily Mail, Wednesday, March 4, 2020^ Page 61
debate
wearING two hospital gowns for modesty
(Letters) is typical of the public sector attitude
to spend more, waste more.
JOHN COLLINS, Bourne End, Bucks.
HOw many children does Boris have? as long
as he keeps his promises to those who voted
him in, I don’t care about his private life.
JANE PARKER, York.
IF BOrIS visited the flood victims, he would
be about as useful as a bucket with a hole in it.
RONALD BALL, Farnborough, Hants.
BOwLS players glancing through the
window of a changing room in a girls’ school
(Mail)? I bet most have trouble seeing the full
length of the bowling green.
K. MATTHEWS, Carlton, Notts.
wHaT an unfortunate name for Nigella
Lawson’s new book: Cook, eat, repeat. Does it
mean every recipe gives you indigestion?
ROZ MEIKLE, Taunton, Somerset.
LONDON has new statues of film stars, but
not one honouring Princess Diana.
ANNA BROOKS, Calveley, Cheshire.
FLYING home from Tenerife, I spotted a
woman with an unusual face mask: she had cut
her bra in half and tied it on with string to
keep abreast of the coronavirus problem.
FRANK BUSBY, Evesham, Worcs.
CONGraTULaTIONS to the couple celebrating
their diamond wedding (Letters). we have
been married for 70 years — our platinum
wedding — and still go to the shops most days.
KEN & ELIZABETH HAWKINS, Nottingham.÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷Straight to the
point
For permission to copy cuttings for internal management and information
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101, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1WX. Tel: 01892 525273. e-mail: [email protected]Is BBC radio ignoring its core audience?
HOw I agree that BBC radio is
obsessed with ‘yoof’ culture
(Letters). radio 1 and 2 hardly
differ in their choice of music, and
the presenters are childishly manic
and tiresome. These stations
should merge, leaving room for
the more discerning listener who
likes a good song from Sinatra, a
bit of swing by Glenn Miller and a
show-stopping number from the
stage or screen.
RAPH FORD, Musbury, Devon.
IT’S not just Radio 2 and 4, we have
the same problems on Radio 3. The
frequent programme trailers are
extremely annoying. Programmes
appear to be geared to attracting a
younger audience — on Saturdayafternoons, there is a video games
music programme. Also, it seems
fashionable to have presenters
talking us through their favourite
music while it’s playing. The
standard reply to complaints is:
‘We can’t please everyone.’
Well, they could if the station played
uninterrupted music.
F. M. LATTY, East Bridgford, Notts.
I’Ve been listening to radio 2 for
years and thoroughly enjoy
presenters Trevor Nelson and Ken
Bruce. I also like lively Sara Cox and
Zoe Ball. and where would we be
without PopMaster?
LESLEY BELL, Leeds.
IS THE strategy of employing zany,
verbose radio presenters more to do
with a requirement for less music tobe played? There has been an
increased number of phone-ins, silly
games, quizzes and chats with
various guests.
Steve Wright’s 30 minutes of
non-stop oldies is followed by
1 5 minutes of chat with a celebrity
who happens to be in the building to
redress the balance.
ROB PRICKETT,
Milton Keynes, Bucks.
aLL we want is the music we’ve
grown up with, information about
the artists and some light-hearted
discussion. Terry wogan got it right
and Ken Bruce does, too.
The last thing we want early in the
morning is inane, loud chatter and
Primal Scream.
LYNN DOHERTY, Narberth, Pembs.vegans want a world with no
cows grazing in the fields, no
lambs frolicking in spring, no
pigs enjoying mud baths?
They must realise no one is
going to farm them for fun. It
would be better to lobby for
ethical and organic farming.
We could certainly do with
eating less meat. By all means
lobby to get rid of intensive
farming, which is not good for
animal welfare, our health or
the planet.
I hope the farmers and
scientists of the future will
find a way to sustain a healthy
planet for all creatures, and
not just try to impose their
will on everyone else.
JEAN WAREING, Potton, Beds.Football farce
WHEN I retired as a Football
League linesman and referee
in the Southern League, I said
they wanted to replace us
with robots.
With VAR, I’ve been proved
to be correct. The laws of
association football state the
referee’s decision is final, but
this does not appear to be the
case any more thanks to VAR,
which stands for Very AwfulReferee. If VAR is to continue,
then for all decisions apart
from offside, the referee should
look at the pitch-side monitor
and make the final call.
Instead, VAR is left to the
interpretation of another
official who more often than
not is far less experienced.
The man in the middle should
be in control of all decisions.
ALAN WARD, Sleaford, Lincs.Good hair day
ASHFORD isn’t the only town
over-run with hair salons
(Mail). It has a population of
74,000 and 28 hairdressers in
the town centre.
My town of 41,000 residents
has 20 salons. I haven’t noticedlocals being better groomed!
W h i l e c l o t h e s a n d f o o d
retailers are struggling to
compete with the internet,
you can’t order a haircut
on Amazon.
JIM SOAR, Tonbridge, Kent.I say!
H E R E a r e s o m e f a m o u s
examples to add to Craig
Brown’s list of how to conjugate
politicians (Mail).
Bertrand Russell started the
ball rolling with: I am firm,
you are obstinate, he is a
pig-headed fool.
I am righteously indignant,
you are annoyed, he is making
a fuss over nothing.
I have reconsidered thematter, you have changed
your mind, he has gone back
on his word.
Bernard Woolley came up
with two classics in Yes,
Prime Minister:
I have an independent mind,
you are eccentric, he is round
the twist.
I give confidential Press
briefings, you leak, he’s being
charged under section 2A of
the Official Secrets Act.
When George Osborne was
Chancellor, his funding policy
for different types of energy
was described as:
I receive public spending,
you get tax incentives, he gets
a subsidy.
BOB BELL, Croydon, Surrey.wIN our Letter Of The week Magic Mug, courtesy of
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020 7937 7493, including
your full postal address
and telephone number.Scandal of homes
left to the floods
Inundated: Homes and gardens in Fishlake were flooded last November
Picture: PAFISHLAKE village, near Doncaster,
had not flooded for almost 100 years. In
2007, when the River Don overflowed
both banks, some fields between
Stainforth and Fishlake flooded, but no
water reached the village.
A few houses in Stainforth had some
limited flooding due to blocked and
poorly maintained drainage.
The politicians keep spouting about
the millions of pounds given for flood
defences since 2007, but there have
been no improvements on the west side
of the River Don at Fishlake, which is
why the village flooded in November.
The east side had a wall built more
than 3ft above the height of the
opposite bank in 2009/2010, hence in
the 2019 floods, Fishlake got the lot.
The Environment Agency keeps saying
that dredging does no good, but when
the River Don used to be dredged from
one end to the other, the banks were
never topped.
This dredging was stopped in the 1970s
to save money. The European Water
Framework Directive, introduced in
2000, prevents dredging from being
carried out. Now we are out of the EU,
can we have some action to protect our
properties and lives?
I have been calling for efforts toprevent flooding since 2009 and have
sent numerous letters to politicians,
the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs, the Environment
Agency, the metropolitan borough
council and the mayor of Doncaster. I
have received replies on House of
Commons headed paperacknowledging receipt of my letters,
but nothing has been done because
politicians don’t listen to the people.
But after the flooding experienced
throughout the country this winter, the
public will not be fobbed off with lame
excuses and false promises.
DAVE CROUCHER, Doncaster, S. Yorks.