Western Mail Letters: Tuesday, 16 June, 2015
Your letters to the national newspaper of Wales
The real immigration threat's from England
sir – Hugh Jones and AF Alder (Letters, June 10 and 12) suggest a reduction in immigration to prevent further "eroding the British heritage in general and our Welsh way of life".
Unfortunately, both corespondents overlook the obvious.
Analysis of figures published by the Office for National Statistics indicate that people from elsewhere in the UK account for almost 22% of the population of Wales, with the vast majority of the new arrivals coming from England.
This is more than eight times the equivalent figure for England, where only 2.7% of the population is made up from people born in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile only around one in 10 people living in Scotland and one in 20 in Northern Ireland originally came from other parts of the UK.
The real threat to our "Welsh way of life", is England's colonial designs for Wales, and its "British Heritage" which is being embedded by stealth within our "Welsh way of life".
Welsh people will become a minority in Wales in about 70 years if the number of people from England and other parts of Britain settling here continues at the current rate.
Rhidian Richard,
Tan Y Coed, Clydach, Swansea
Painful truth is that we must help Assad
sir – We in the UK value life above everything else and would do all we can to help strangers and people we have nothing in common with. This unfortunately is not true of our nation.
President George W Bush and Prime Minister Blair have much to answer for, as they went into Iraq and Libya to overthrow Saddam Hussain and Muammar Gaddafi without any thought of who would replace them – which meant we achieved nothing except the loss of many lives and left the countries worse off than before.
There is the same trouble in Syria and I do not for one minute suggest the Assad regime is perfect – they are responsible for the loss of many lives. Unless immediate action is taken this conflict will continue and spread to other countries.
The simple answer seems to be to topple Assad, but this would only prolong the conflict, as we have proved in Iraq and Libya. The answer, painful as it may appear, is to tame Assad and assist him in bringing back some form of democracy to Syria. It is the only way forward and must be managed in such a way that would help to hopefully overthrow the Islamist militants.
Sir Eric Howells CBE
Llanddewi Velfrey, Narberth, Pembrokeshire
Time for Lidl to show its gratitude
sir – Cathy Owens article 'No poor relation, Lidl is Britain's' best grocer' Western Mail, June 12) was interesting inasmuch as it highlighted Lidl's immense progress since its launch in the UK in 1994.
They haven't achieved this without a significant supporting cast – their customers.
I believe it's time that they took stock and, once and for all, addressed their real attitude to their customers. They should treat them with more consideration and get their checkout woes sorted.
They have NO express or single basket tills, forcing customers who have only a few items to stand in queues behind shoppers with huge trolleys full of weekly shopping. How frustrating is that?
Does UK boss Ronny Gottschlich have any plans to improve this facet of their trading?
Stu Vigus,
St Arvans, Chepstow
One hundred years of betrayal in Valleys
Sir – I have listened to senior Labour MPs speak endlessly about our Labour Heartlands.
So, armed with my bus pass, I thought I'd travel some of the Labour Heartlands. After 100 years of unbroken Labour domination, a land of milk and honey?
Starting in Newport, I headed to Abertillery, Blaina, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale, Tredegar, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney, Pontlottyn, New Tredegar then finally Bargoed and Aberbargoed.
The betrayal of trust placed in Labour by the people of the Valleys, can have no basis in logic. The hopelessness, despair and poverty is something to behold.
The red seats shown on the political map of Wales are an open wound on the Labour party's abysmal ability in the Welsh Valleys. Millionaire Labour MPs serving for generations, but serving who is the question? Where have the billions of European aid gone? No sign of it impacting on the lives of the people of the Valleys, why aren't the Valleys part of modern Britain?
Many parts of the world would riot at the all-enveloping degeneration of the Valleys. A hundred years of unbroken Labour control, culminating in the despair and betrayal of generations loyal to Labour.
God help them, Labour won't
R Morgan
Poplars Close, Mardy, Abergavenny
Labour leadership poll so depressing
Sir – A recent newspaper poll showed that 56% of the British Public polled wanted Jeremy Corbyn to be elected as the new Labour Leader; yet, thus far he has only 16 Labour MP nominations.
Andy Burnham, who polled 17% has over 60 nominations, Liz Kendall, with 14%, has 37 nominations and Yvette Cooper, with 11%, has over 50 nominations.
This is utterly depressing, because in Jeremy Corbyn the Labour party has one last opportunity to salvage an identity of its own, rather than be labelled 'red Tories'.
We are being advised that Andy Burnham, once an arch Blairite, has now shifted to the left!
That still makes him dangerously right of where he should be: Liz Kendall is espousing views that would not be amiss in a Cameron Cabinet and Yvette Cooper, if she has any convictions at all, is too embarrassed to show them.
Sadly, in Wales, voters returned mostly Labour candidates rather than support our own Socialist alternative of a Leanne Wood-led Plaid Cymru party. Those same Labour politicians are once again ignoring their constituents and are supporting Blairite candidates.
Blairite policies failed in 2010, by continuing to support austerity cuts to public services and further privatisation of the NHS – remember Andy Burnham, as Health Secretary, privatised huge swathes of the NHS.
Three candidates for a Labour Party leadership who all support austerity: at a time when the major growth industry in Britain is the use of food banks; can there be a greater obscenity than that?
What could be more depressing? Well, the thought that Carwyn Jones, leader of the Welsh Labour government, is the most senior Labour politician in Britain.
This is a man who agreed to the flying of the Welsh flag at half-mast for the death of Margaret Thatcher and who attended the funeral of the person who so defiled and destroyed the social fabric of this country.
Who can seriously doubt that Labour as a political force is now wholly insignificant?
Patrick G Rafferty
Penygraig, Tonypandy, Rhondda
Wales gets more cash back than it raises
Sir – In reply to Keith Parry (Western Mail, June), may I point out yet again that Westminster raises £12bn in taxes in Wales but contributes £16bn in subsidies. A difference of £4bn, or an extra £1,333 for each Welsh man, woman and child.
Thank God for 50 million kind English taxpayers keeping Wales above the poverty line. Wales could not do it alone.
As for WAG; it couldn't run a cockle stall in Swansea Market.
Ken Bowen,
Whitson, Newport
Putting the language ahead of our health
Sir – Much noise has been made by the various Welsh language
pressure groups at the Labour government's announcement to spend £2.5m on language centres across Wales.
One of these, celebrated by Cymdeithas Yr Iaith, in Bangor, is the site of a former sexual health clinic. The funding priorities of the Welsh Government closed the clinic in the first place and now it is being replaced by a language centre. In doing this the government in Cardiff has said to all prospective voters in North Wales that it cares more about programmes for the language than
it does about the health of its citizens.
With the election next year I hope that as many of this country's voters remember that choice Labour has made in their name.
Matthew Kilcoyne
Marford, Wrexham
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