Tag: tony delahoy

Letters: Cuts, cuts and more cuts

Dear Editor

The continuing cuts in public services of all kinds are taking a dreadful toll on communities throughout the UK, undoing decades of struggle to put them in place.

The continuing fall in the value of wages, particularly now with higher prices every week, should convince the majority of the working population that private ownership of major industries are incapable of any other action.

There have been slumps in varying degrees of severity, the cost of which being passed on to the population; there can be no justification for such callousness in the pursuit of profit-making by privileged financial investors.

All of this show the urgent need for public ownership of at least the essential services: energy distributors, passenger transport (rail, bus and tram), water supply and sewerage – all of these industries should be working for the benefit of ALL, not a few investors.

We have to move on from the failed system of private ownership: there is no logical reason or sense in not doing so.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Unity is strength

Dear Editor

Capitalism, the system under which we live, constantly tries to retain control over the population. The ways of doing this are many, as a reading of history will show: a catalogue of land thieving, forced clearances, draconian laws and the prosecution of those who resisted. A policy of ‘divide and rule’ always was, and still is, the main tactic.

A recent example, the financial collapse of 2008, is blamed on the Labour Party, dividing organised political resistance against the savage cuts in public services and wages. It is now admitted that the financial crisis was worldwide caused by the banking industry.

From 2010 divide and rule was stepped up,with people not in work accused of being skivers and scroungers. It was then extended to disabled people and those who for many reasons were unable to work, having to claim benefits on which to live. They were then subjected to an assessment on their fitness to work by a private company – despite their having medical certification.

The housing shortage is partly blamed on people occupying a house or flat deemed to have spare rooms, and now this is followed by stories of elderly people being financially better off at the expense of younger generations.

All these example, and many more, are designed to set one against another, making unity more difficult.

To counter this we must show that there are many issues common to everyone, to get people thinking and acting again in a positive manner and making these issues work for the benefit of all.

We all need energy supplies, water and utilities, and a good reliable public transport system. It is not right that these essential services are mainly privately-owned, instead of being run for the benefit of all.

Unity, not division, will change things. There is so much on which to unite, making progress to a better life for all.

A. Delahoy, Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: For the many, not the few

Dear Editor

The working population has always been under pressure struggling to defend and improve their lives and the lives of those dependent on them. The pressure comes from the system of private ownership of industries that operates to maximise profits for individuals and organisations of investors.

The Labour movement, in all it’s forms, has battled against this with notable success, raising the quality of lives and expectations. These expectations should be reflected by the actions of our parliamentarians, but many are supporters of the existing system of private control and ownership and will not support major changes.

Labour Party policy must be to identify essential issues around which maximum unity of public pressure can be built, for example:

  • To exist, everyone needs electricity, gas and water supplies yet these essential industries are mostly privately owned.
  • To get from home and back to work, rail, bus and tram services are essential; they are also needed for shopping and leisure activities and should be operated for the benefit of all, not to make a profit for investors.

People do expect to pay a fair price for these services but extracting millions and millions of pounds from these industries is totally wrong, particularly when so many people are struggling to pay for the essentials of life.

The campaign to build maximum unity on these and other issues to progress the changes necessary must be a priority for the Labour movement, for no one else will.

It can be done.

A.Delahoy,

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Don’t let greed destroy our precious public services

Dear Editor

Every day all over the UK people get prepared to go to work; it is a necessity to earn an income to sustain themselves and those who depend on them. Whether they work as part of a team or as an individual, production or management, they all work. The only exception to this, in the main, are people or organisations who have money to invest to make more money out of those who do work.

People need many essential services to carry on with their lives. At home: electricity, gas, water and sewerage. To get to their place of work they need passenger transport : bus, tram, rail, etc. – yet most of these services are privately owned, a veritable goldmine for those who are able to invest.

All of the services mentioned above relate to just work, but work is not all in life: they have a direct effect on our ability to have social and leisure time, visiting family and friends, taking part in sport, shopping or enjoying the countryside:, in fact, living.

All of these services must be operated for the benefit of all.

How can it be right that the extraction of millions and millions of pounds from those services are taken by investors? It is greedy and immoral and cannot be justified in any way.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

 

Letters: drivers should take a hard look at themselves

Dear Editor

Drivers who are moaning and groaning about a restriction on ‘them’ having to observe a speed limit should take a hard look at themselves and their reasons for objecting.

Driving in a city can be one of potential risk to pedestrians and drivers alike – except that drivers have a two ton object in their hands travelling at speed.

There are very few times whilst driving in the city when one is able to travel more than a few hundred yards before having to stop, yet some drivers feel it is their personal right to travel those few hundred yards as fast as they wish, causing hazardous conditions for all, just to save a few seconds of their precious time.

That is why I say: those drivers should take a hard look at themselves and their attitude to others.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Enough is enough

Dear Editor

Do not be taken in by the Tories who say, hand on heart, ‘we will put wokers interests first’ if elected.

We know to our cost over the last seven years just how much they care by freezing our wages, imposing drastic cuts in funding for essential services and making scapegoats of unemployed and disabled people.

On June the 8th everyone has the opportunity to vote them out for all they have done and intend to do to us. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Tony Delahoy (by email)

Letter: Time to ditch the Tories

Dear Editor

When voting on June 8th everyone should remember that many things we take for granted had to be struggled for by ordinary people. The formation of our NHS. The reduction of the working week to 5 days. The entitlement to paid annual leave. The entitlement to sick pay. Health and Safety at Work Act.

These and many others were put into place by a Labour Government campaigned for by the Labour Movement, Trade Unions and Cooperatives.

All these improvements were made in spite of fierce opposition by the Conservatives.

We now have had 7 years of Tory control making drastic cuts not only in the value of our wages but also on the many services that are essential to most people. The Tories have said they intend to continue making cuts over the next 5 years if elected. Even our NHS on which at times we all rely is being ground down in many ways.

We must ensure on June 8th the Tories get the message: You are not wanted, we have had enough of cuts.

A.Delahoy (by email)

Letters: Don’t fall for five more years of Tory havoc

Dear Editor,

In the last few years there has been a relentless anti – Labour/ Jeremy Corbyn campaign waged by those who control information from the press or other media. This is based on the well tried method that if you repeat something over and over again some people will start to believe it, in effect being told what to think and how to act.

The whole advertising industry works on that principal spending millions of pounds doing so, this principal also applies to the information industry. If the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn are not electable as they claim, the question must be asked, why have they conducted such a sustained campaign? Could it be that given equal unbiased coverage of the Labour policy that speaks for the vast majority of people, they would be elected?

Working people rely for their existence on having secure employment without which poverty beckons, and having had the experience of the last 7 years of Tory control this threat is always present.

The financial crisis of 2008 was not caused by the working population but by Banks and Financial Institutions, the working population is having to pay for it.

People have been fooled in the past to give their vote to the Tories, it would be a disaster to give them another five years to continue their dreadful havoc on our lives.

A. Delahoy (by email)

 

Lettters: Brickbats and bouquets

Dear Editor

The outgoingCity of Ediburgh Council received many justified Brickbats for some policy decisions. They also deserve Bouquets for others, for example:-

Planting new trees in the spaces where very old trees have had to be removed all along the dual carriage
of Muirhouse & Silverknowes Parkway, for All of us now and future generations to see their beauty.

The second bouquet is for the decision to restrict vehicle speed in the City to a sensible limit for the benefit
of all who live and work here. The only people who are put out are those who think it is their right to drive as they wish regardless of the danger to others.

Well done the Council!

Tony Delahoy (by email)