Tag: letters

Letters: Save our local services

Dear Editor

Cuts in funding for services affect people differently; most are appalled at the frequency and the damage it is doing to the local social fabric. But, as always, it is those who most in need of services are denied them, with all the consequences including further isolation within the community.

Pilton Equalities Project (PEP), an organisation based in North Edinburgh, runs many services for local people including:

  • Five day care clubs
  • Classes and activities in computer training, arts and crafts and literacy and numeracy
  • Cooking
  • A mental health issues group

These activities are attended by approximately 200 people each week.

PEP minibuses pick up from and return people to their homes; all the buses are staffed with volunteer escorts. Up to 80 other volunteers help throughout the week with other activities.

Funding cuts from the city council or Scottish Government will hit the provision of these services and the very people who are most in need.

PEP makes every effort in appealing to various social and charitable organisations for grants and support to keep these vital services going, but it is not sustainable in the long run if funding cuts continue.

PEP’s volunteers carried out 13,000 hours volunteering for local people in 2016, adding greatly to the quality of life and indeed their health.

As one of those volunteers, the reason for this letter is to raise public understanding of how serious are repeated cuts in funding for local services. With the best will and efforts, volunteers cannot operate on insufficient funding for their organisation.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Words and Deeds

Dear Editor

Actions by the Tory-led governments of 2010 and 2015 to deal with the financial crisis – caused not by the people, but by banks and financial institutions – was to immediately pass the debt onto the majority of people by restricting wages and reducing funding for services of all kinds.

They also launched a tremendous appeal to the people, assuring them that ‘we are all in this together’. This worked for a while but very quickly their tactic of ‘divide and rule’ was brought into play, blaming sections of the population for being scroungers or skivers, the disabled, those on benefits (particularly those on housing benefit), etc. to justify further cuts in wages and essential services.

After more than six years, people were seeing through their talk of a ‘big society’ and ‘all in this together’ speeches  and began to realise they had been conned. This posed a threat to the continuation of Tory control, so out went David Cameron and in came Theresa May, who said in her first speech as PM she would do things differently, make changes to bring about a more just society and again making a Tory appeal for support from the people. She even claimed the Tories are now the party for working people!

This puts into context the continuous attack on Jeremy Corbyn in the press, in Parliament and other sections of the media. The Tories know his ability to speak the language of working people and therefore his capability of winning an election: this, the Tories fear.

The millions and millions of people who have seen and felt the difference between the words and deeds of the Tories must now reawaken nationwide activity and campaign to make real changes to our society.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Public support for truly public services

Dear Editor

One of the problems and difficulties most working people have is making ends meet. In most cases, and for many years, wages have been heavily restricted but prices have risen and local services have been repeatedly cut back.

It is no wonder people are searching about for solutions, or in some cases someone to blame. The press, television, etc. have entered the fray in a devisive way, fuelling the blame game on individuals or groups, not dealing with the basic causes of being unable to manage.

To survive, everyone needs electricity and/or gas supplies for heating, cooking and lighting – yet the main supply of these basic needs are in the hands of just six companies who extract millions upon millions of pounds for shareholders: money that could be used by the industries to benefit everyone.

This is a crazy way to run essential services; one most people would agree should be changed.

To survive, most people need transport by rail, bus or tram to access their workplace, paying high fares to do so. Again, these essential services are mostly operated by private companies – and again, most people would agree this should be changed.

These two industries, energy supplies and passenger transport, should operate for the benefit of all. Millions of people would agree with this and vote for it.

The Conservative Party and UKIP will never put working people before the shareholders, the Labour Party would and will do so. This puts the real reason for the non-stop anti-Labour, anti-Jeremy Corbyn campaign into perspective.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letter: Tories will never be the People’s Party

Dear Editor

Letter: Words and Deeds

Dear Editor,

Actions by the Tory-led governments of 2010 and 2015 to deal with the financial crisis (caused not by the people, but by banks and financial institutions) was to immediately pass the debt onto the majority of people by restricting wages and reducing funding for services of all kinds.

They also launched a tremendous appeal to the people assuring them  that “we are all in this together”, this worked for a while but very quickly their tactic of divide and rule was brought into play, blaming sections of the population  being scroungers and or skivers, the Disabled, those on benefits, particularly those on Housing benefit etc, to justify further cuts in wages and essential services.

After over 6 years, people were seeing through their talk of “ a big society “ and “ all in this together “ speeches and began to realise they had been conned. This posed a threat to the continuation of Tory control, so out went David Cameron, and in came Theresa May saying in her first speech she would do things differently, make changes to bring about a more just society and again making a Tory appeal for support from the people, claiming that the Tories are now the party for working people.

This puts into context the continuous attack on Jeremy Corbyn in the press, in Parliament and other sections of the media. The Tories know his ability to speak the language of working people and therefore his capability of winning an election: this, the Tories fear.

The millions and millions of people who have seen and felt the difference between the words and deeds of the Tories must now re-awaken nationwide activity and campaign to make real changes to our society.

A Delahoy,

Silverknowes Gardens,

Letters: The dangers of misplaced nationalism

Dear Editor

Where one is born usually decides their nationality, how one feels about the nation can depend on many circumstances, but usually deep down there is a feeling of belonging. Sometimes it can develop into a nationalism of my nation above everything: we witnessed this during the last century with Germany, Italy, Japan and others. It led to World War II, causing tremendous destruction and the death of sixty million people worldwide.

This century, hopes of national and international co-operation in solving world problems have been aided by the ability of people to travel, visit and settle in different parts of the world – and realising that agreement between nations is to the benefit of all.

Now, because of an economic crisis of capitalism there are very loud vocal calls from many countries, including the UK, to go back to nationalism as a way of solving problems, the number of which are growing worldwide: food and water shortages, energy supplies, climate change, destruction of the world’s forests, the changing nature of diseases, air pollution, all these and more need co-operation and understanding to solve them for the benefit of all.

The historic system of nationalism as expressed by ‘me first’, loudly sought after in many places, is so wrong and dangerous to world peace. Pride in one’s country is a totally different story.

A. Delahoy, Silverknowes Gardens

 

 

Letters: It’s time to neuter the fat cats

Dear Editor

The massive salaries, bonuses, expenses and other payments to ‘top people’ running into billions of pounds is seen by the majority of working people as totally obscene. How on Earth can it be justified, let alone accepted by them with a clear conscience, when the people who actually produce the wealth are struggling to survive, or ‘just managing’?

Even the government says things should change, but saying ‘should change’ does not mean ‘will change’.

Those who receive such payments cannot possibily spend it all, raising the temptation of investing it in tax free accounts. This also affects the majority of the working population by depriving the country of tax payments that could help pay for services like the NHS.

There must be a maximum limit set on the total amount any individual can get and there must also be a total ban on tax havens , all income being subjected to the Pay as You Earn tax.

This is the minimum start required to bring about the changes needed in the distribution of the wealth produced by working people.

A. Delahoy, Silverknowes Gardens

 

Letters: Freedom And Justice?

Dear Editor

We have always been and continue to be told we owe our livelihoods to those that have the money to invest, without their efforts we would be in dire straits.

Of course their motive is to get back more than they invest; if not, they will not hesitate to withdraw their investment and in the process if you lose your job, hard luck.

Their commitment in time and effort is minimal when compared with a wage earning employee who spends certainly not less than 50 years of their lifetime working, to this must be added unpaid time in support by family members.

Without people working producing goods of all sorts, money itself is useless – yet those who hold it exercise great power over our lives.

Who, then, by their efforts should get the benefits of the value of goods produced? The producers’ lifetime of work – or a wealthy gambler on the stock market who also has  power on whether you have a job or not?

As the title suggests, it is their freedom and their interpretation of justice.

A Delahoy,

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: truly the nasty party

Dear Editor

The Conservative government always resorts to playing off one section of the population against another. They tried it against people who have to claim different benefits, calling them scroungers, they tried it against people who have disabilities affecting work possibilities, calling them work shy. This tactic carried on over years did create some division, which fortunately is now being overcome.

Now they are at it again, this time trying to create division between pensioners and young people, saying pensioners are now very financially comfortable at young peoples’ expense!

Always the objective of divide and rule is to impose what they wish on both sections. Watch for the stepping up of this particular effort.

They truly are the ‘nasty party’.

Thank You,

Tony (Delahoy, by email)

 

Letters: Essentially yours

letter (2)

Dear Editor

Rightly so, the NHS is looked upon as a public service, an absolute essential for the vast majority of people living in the UK. It took many decades of struggle and activity against conservative opposition to get this principle established and brought into being by the Labour Party supported by the Trade Unions and the unity of the people.

As a public service the NHS is literally a lifeline: how on earth would people cope with the financial cost of private treatment? They just could not.

There are other essential services needed by everyone every day to be able to function.

First, every home need power: electricity or gas for heating and cooking. Many households cannot do both properly as it is too expensive, yet millions of pounds aer made by investors in these private companies. They should be publicly owned and the millions made used for the benefit of consumers.

The same applies to the essential industries of passenger transport;, rail, bus and tram. Millions are made by investors out of people having to use them just to get to and from work. As essential servces they too should be publicly owned.

All these issues are common to all and as necessary as the NHS. To achieve these ojectives, pressure and demand must be developed showing how the greed of the few wealthy investors affects us all.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens