Dear Editor
Sweden is a country associated with the better side of human activity: it is a reputation to be respected and treasured.
Recent events around the situation of Julian Assange is doing harm to this reputation, which must be a concern for the Swedish people.
Included in this letter is an appeal to the authorities of Sweden in the UK to use their good offices to secure justice for, and the protection of, Julian Assange from others.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
Dear Editor
In future elections politicians both local and national must change their approach and attitude to the electors: from one of ‘what we will do for you, if elected’ to one of ‘we will carry out your decisions, if elected’.
This is how a democracy should and could work in the people’s interests.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
Dear Editor
Meningitis Now and the Swimming Teachers Association would like to invite parents and their children to take part in a new water-based challenge to help us fight deadly meningitis.
Splash Now can be held in your local pool during swimming lessons, in a paddling pool in your back garden, in the sea – anywhere, as long as it involves water.
All we ask is that participants use the opportunity to raise some money for Meningitis Now and raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of the disease.
We think this could be a really fun way to encourage babies, toddlers and older children to get involved in swimming or just to enjoy cooling down on a hot summers day as well as to help us to support families that have been impacted by meningitis.
To find out more and to register for the event please visit our fundraising pages on the Meningitis Now website.
Yours sincerely
Kat Hollywell
Community Fundraising Assistant, Meningitis Now
Dear Editor
It seems that young people are showing their elders how to protest with effect. People have talked around, on and about climate change – but have not pushed hard enough for changes: now it is more than likely we have at most about twenty years to do so. Continue reading Letters: young people lead the way on environment
Dear Editor
It never fails to amaze me to see the varied skills and knowledge of working people and their dedication. This is made clear to each and every one of us when we need help.
Working people are the largest section of the total population; they make and design everything that we use and need.
The importance of each and every one cannot be overstated: it is the skills of the working people that make things – no investor or financial institution can or does produce anything. Their contribution, if investing can be called that, is to buy the abilities and skills of people for a weekly wage. Then, they lay claim to everything that has been produced, making even more profit from the labour of working people.
This is how the society in which we live operates – it is called Capitalism, an outdated system that works for the benefit of the wealthy.
It buys the labour power and skills of working people, as many hours as possible and for as little pay as possible, and when the goods are made takes them as theirs to sell for their own profit. What an incredible system we tolerate!
To change this blatant exploitation of working people needs examples of where public ownership of such industries as Gas and Electicity, railways and other public passenger transport; water companies, too, would also benefit not just the people employed but the public at large.
Capitalism cannot control the greedy, or solve any problems.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
Dear Sir/Madam
Many of your readers living with the complex, neurological condition myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) are missing out on normal life; one in four are so severely ill they are house- and/or bed-bound. Continue reading Letters: share your experiences of M.E. in new survey
Dear Editor
The banking organisations, through incompetence, nearly made the country bankrupt but the debt was passed on to the people to shoulder. They had to accept a lot of unemployment, higher prices in the shops, frozen wages and severe cuts to public and social services.
To avoid any resistance, the authorities launched a campaign of diversion and blame. Everyone can remember how different sections of society were blamed in turn: the unemployed for not working, the disabled for being on benefits – all were targets to be blamed.
This went on for many years and people had taken enough of austerity; there was a growing mood for change, calling for the authorities to take the banking industry into public ownership and impose tighter controls over financial institutions.
This fast-growing popular demand was greatly feared by the political elite. It took them quite a while to develop an idea to divert these demands, but after eight years they were successful. It was a continuation of the blame game, but this time not blaming our own people but any and all those coming from Europe – and the idea of a Referendum was born. They concentrated on three main issues: Control, Laws and Migration.
The promoters of the referendum conducted a continuous campaign of national ‘brainwashing’. Putting relentless pressure on people is not a new idea, as a look back at recent history will confirm.
But unfortunately nearly 50% of the population were aware of the implications of a break with Europe that is our biggest trader of imports and exports, and closest.
A. Delahoy,
Silverknowes Gardens
Dear Editor
Every one of us needs the supply of electricity and a lot of people also need gas for heating and cooking. We all need a supply of fresh water: yet all of these industries are owned by private companies, able to fix prices to maintain multi-million pounds of profit for investors.
This supply of electricity, gas and water is essential and is provided by workers in those industries.
Why, then, should such essential services be in the hands of private companies? These basic essential services should be publicly owned.
The control of these basic essential services cannot be left to private individuals and groups of investors. It is backward thinking; it is greedy and immoral however measured.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
Dear Editor
The increasing number of statements made recently by Defence Minister Gavin Williamson (above) during tours both at home and abroad are extremely disturbing.
In one statement he calls for the establishment of more military bases around the world, in another he calls for increased support to back Ukranian forces in their dispute with Russia.
His latest statement – calling for an aircraft carrier to be sent to the Yellow Sea – shows, in my opinion, he is quite unsuited to be in any position of government.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
Dear Editor
When the banks collapsed through financial mismanagement and corruption in 2008 the people of the UK had to pay for this massive example of this failure of capitalism.
Wages were frozen, prices soared, thousands of jobs were lost, and both local and national services were decimated.
All this continued from 2008 to 2016 non-stop – and it is still going on today. People had had enough and were demanding that the banks should be under public control and stricter controls over the financial institutions should be introduced.
Danger signals from the banks and financial sector were very quickly raised: the demands of the people of the UK for control over these sectors must somehow be headed off.
It took a few years for the media to convince the people to blame others for the troubles, but they succeeded in splitting the nation practically down the middle, a classic example of the ‘divide and rule’ tactic.
The consequences of the phoney arguments in support of the EU referendum are yet to be felt.
Taking back control was advanced as an objective of the referendum, but in whose hands would control be? People had decided that in 2008 and will do so again.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
