Tag: letters

Letters: reach out to people with M.E. this Christmas

Dear Editor,

For most people, Christmas is about celebrating with friends and family; however, many people with the chronic, debilitating illness M.E. tell us they feel very lonely and isolated at this time of year – particularly the one in four who are so severely ill that they are bed- or house-bound. If you know someone with M.E., consider reaching out to them this Christmas – a simple card, phone call or visit can make a real difference.

If you have M.E. and you need information and support, call us on 0117 927 9551 (we’re here until 4pm on Friday 21 December, and re-open 10am Monday 7 January) – or visit www.actionforme.org.uk/you-are-not-alone. Our M.E. Friends

Online forum is open throughout the festive period; to register, visit www.actionforme.org.uk/MEfriendsonline

Sonya Chowdhury

Chief Executive, Action for M.E.

42 Temple Street, Keynsham BS31 1EH

Tel: 0117 937 6620

 

Letter: Bin lorry crash anniversary

Sir,

Next month is the fourth anniversary of the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy. Six people died and 17 were injured when a city council bin lorry cut a swathe through Christmas shoppers after the driver, Harry Clarke, fainted at the wheel. This was not the first time Clarke had fainted at the wheel, nor was it the first time pedestrians had been killed in similar circumstances.

Clarke was able to continue driving because he denied having had any previous fainting episode and there is no system in place to ensure a driver only receives a HGV licence if the DVLA has seen the applicant’s medical records.

This loophole means the tragedy could happen again, anywhere in the UK, at any time.

In the fatal accident inquiry which followed these six tragic deaths, Sheriff Beckett recommended that the Secretary of State for Transport should consult on the issue. At the moment, the UK Government and DVLA appear content to rely on increased guidance and awareness. This does not legislate for those who wilfully drive HGVs when they know they should not. And it will provide no comfort to the families of those who died four years ago.

Ronald E Conway

Scotland co-ordinator, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)

3 Alder Court, Rennie Hogg Road

Nottingham NG2 1RX

Letter: World Pancreatic Cancer Day

Dear Editor,

Around 784 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year in the UK and tragically one in four people won’t survive for a month. Three in four won’t survive for a year making pancreatic cancer the quickest killing cancer.

Despite being the cancer with the worst outcomes, many people are unaware of the disease and the devastating impact it can have. As World Pancreatic Cancer Day approaches (15thNovember) I urge your readers to find out more about the disease and spread the world about its symptoms.

An increased awareness of the symptoms, which include tummy and back pain, indigestion, itchy skin or yellow skin or eyes, unexplained weight loss and oily floating poo, could lead to more people being diagnosed at an earlier stage. The earlier people are diagnosed, the earlier they can be treated it may increase their chances of being eligible for life-saving surgery.

Your readers can find more information about World Pancreatic Cancer Day at www.worldpancreaticcancerday.org or seek support from myself or one of my colleagues on the Pancreatic Cancer UK Support Line (Freecall: 0808 801 0707).

Thank you,

Dianne Dobson

Pancreatic Cancer UK Specialist Nurse

Letters: The madness of nuclear weapons

Dear Editor

When the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, wiping out cities and thousands and thousands of people in an instant, mankind had reached the possibility of self destruction worldwide.

So far the peoples of the world have managed to restrain the madmen who still advocate the use of nuclear weapons.

These madmen, – for that is what they are – appear quite often on television supporting their use, but going further in advocating their first use.

How and why are they given the opportunity to promote such terrible actions? They really are totally mad.

Just think about it: what are they calling for? Are they really saying it will be in our and others best interests to decimate each other in the most horrible way?

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Time to call a halt to fat cat excesses

Dear Editor

On 15th August, Channel 4 television reported on the salaries of company chiefs. It was staggering to hear how many millions of pounds are paid every year.

In one example, an individual was paid well over £4 million. It would take an average worker 195 years to match it. This was just one case of hundreds occurring regularly.

This money or wealth was created by the labour of workers and their families. This system is being justified as being right: it cannot be so.

Two people on the programme said they supported the payments and that they should continue.

The fairness, the justification, the morality of this system of wealth distribution must be changed. The sooner the better.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Murky side of Fringe is no laughing matter

Dear Editor

As we enter September and local residents begin to feel comfortable venturing back into Edinburgh’s city centre, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on some of the lesser publicised issues of the many festivals hosted during August by the Scottish capital.
Whilst many celebrated the wealth of incredible domestic and international talents on show at The Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival, record ticket sales for a sixth successive year, and an unprecedented number of visitors, the exploitative practices of many employers and local landlords were once again hidden in plain sight.
As noted during the Scottish Socialist Party’s fantastic Wheel of Misfortune event (Saturday 25th August 2018), staff at several festival venues earned mere pennies per hour, whilst year-round tenants faced being turfed out of their homes in favour of more lucrative profits to be made thanks to the largely unregulated official festival partner AirBnB.
Whilst there is much to enjoy for those able to afford tickets to witness the musical, comedic, and literary talents brought to our city, should it be permitted to take priority over local communities?
Thanks to pivotal work from not only the Scottish Socialist Party, but also the Fair Fringe, and Living Rent Campaign, worker exploitation, intimidating workplace practices – such as replacing paid posts with ‘volunteers’ (thus avoiding worker rights) – and the disgraceful treatment of many year-round tenants are rapidly coming to light.
Luke Campbell (by email)

Letters: Whaling memorial for Leith Links?

Dear Editor

I was re-running some old photographs of Leith Harbour in South Georgia in my head. Most of the pictures were of sailors having fun sledging, but there was one with a view out over the fiord and you could make out the superstructure of two catchers tied up at the dock.

I remember dad telling me that the catchers has their own dock, and how a lot of attention was given over to their servicing during the off-season. In the picture they looked small, around eighty feet or so and in remarkably good condition considering that whaling ended for the Scottish company Salvesen so many years ago.

Driving flat out into a storm chasing down a whale in such a small boat must have been quite a ride, not to say dangerous, although much more so for the whale.

Maybe they should bring one of these catchers back to Edinburgh and park it in the Meadows of Leith Links as a reminder of when men fished for whales.

Sadly whaling still goes on, when will we ever learn?

Walter Hamilton

by email

Letters: Immigrants are PEOPLE

Dear Editor

The word ‘immigrant’ is used freely but seldom in a good way. What is missing is the understanding that they are people, who for various reasons can no longer exist of live in their own country whether through war, economic squalor or changes in climate, making it impossible to survive.

They are asking for our support in their desperation to live.

Many people ‘walk by on the other side of the road’ but fortunately those who care are in the majority, willing to help but frustrated by those in power who see this human disaster only in terms of numbers, not women, children and men.

The extremes of indifference exhibited on the border of Mexico and America shows the depths to which some people in power are prepared to go, condemning vulnerable people for having to migrate just to exist.

The causes and events leading to this situation must be the target, not people.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens