Time to send our politicians a message
ON June 4, we shall all have the first opportunity to give the people's verdict on issues that affect us all within Kirklees and the European Elections are an ideal platform to reject policies we do not want.
For instance, the council plans to build 37,000 homes on our doorsteps and decimate our lovely countryside by letting greedy developers encroach on our Green Belt that has been designated so for many years.
So, let us take this ideal opportunity to send those who control Kirklees Council a strong message they won't forget when deciding our fate in October 2009, when the decision is to be made that will see monumental changes to our local villages, culture and way of life.
Let these politicians experience people power and our total rejection of policies that certain KMC councillors seem to want to bulldozer through at any price.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
Public deserve better
THE reaction of MPs in relation to the exposure of the blatant abuse of their expenses beggars belief.
Indeed,Šthe majority of them truly believe they have done absolutely nothing wrong and that their so called integrity is still intact.
How can we ever trust these people again?ŠThe answer is that we can't and when they are knocking on your door for the local elections give them hell.
Let them know the depth of the public's feelings. We deserve better.
HELEN MAKIN
Means test our MPs
INTERESTING to see the claim from MPs that the salary of £60-odd thousand is not enough and will deter poor people from becoming MPs.
Both main parties when in government insist on means testing for the ordinary man or woman when it comes to accessing state funding.
Why can't a similar means test be applied to MPs when it comes to expenses?
As for the Parliamentary fees office, it is stated that the previous Prime Minister had all of his receipts shredded, by accident, before he left office.
But surely the same fees office will have a record of what was paid out against a particular claim. If not why not?
The next task of the Telegraph should be to expose the allowances claimed by our representatives in the EU Parliament.
GEZ SHARP
Pay should match work
WHY are politicians allowed to set their own wages and give no account to the public as to what their expenses are?
Many sit in the Commons and claim it's hard work. Joe Public should have a say in their wages, or it could be a figure which matches their hard work.
In short, they get fat pay packets for 'old rope'.
COLIN VAUSE
Club minus gentlemen
IT is becoming a little irksome to hear the Prime Minister and others ascribe the problems of the House of Commons to its being run like a gentlemen's club.
In my experience, no club of repute would tolerate conduct such as that exhibited by some MPs and exposed over the past few days.
The problem with the House of Commons is not that it is a club, but that it has all too few gentlemen, by which I mean Members, male and female, who behave with the sense of honour, honesty and public service which the electorate is entitled to expect.
DANIEL WOOD
Chair of Policy Committee, Liberal Party
Pilots not political tools
I APPLAUD the letter about the Polish fighter pilots of 303 Squadron 'Letter, Winging It', (Examiner, May 18.)
The Polish air-force who came to Britain with their government, located in London after France collapsed, was much bigger than one squadron.
We have here in Huddersfield Mr George Sutcliffe, who was the only English person in the Polish 306 Squadron.
His story is in Huddersfield library, entitled "People's War". As documented, 20% of flying instructors in the battle of Britain were Polish and they used different planes besides spitfires.
The motto of the Polish airmen, also the navy and the army in the war was "for yours and our freedom".
Their heroism was never meant to be used, after more than 25 years, as a tool in political party squabbles.
The voters have much more to digest with present affairs.
TONY SOSNA
Ex-war veteran, Huddersfield
THE MP for the Colne Valley has submitted her expenses for people to see.
It is interesting to read that a typical month's expense for food is £240 or £60 per week.
If any of us applied for a job, say as a bus driver or engineer or shop assistant, can we also ask our employer for an extra £60 to cover our food bill?
There are unemployed people who have to survive on less per week than that.
Linthwaite
Silence over store
SO, Barry Sheerman is against the new Asda.
Surprise, surprise he is also against the new Tesco.Yet Sainsbury's at Shorehead is on at least its third expansion programme and not a word from Barry about this. Perhaps he shops at Sainsbury's?
Or am I just being cynical?
ASDA SHOPPER
Footprints closure
WITH regard to the article in Monday's Examiner regarding the closure of Footprints shop.
I would like to say parents may be feeling let down by the closure, but so will the clients. Have they had consultation and will they understand?
What has happened to choice, respect and continuity? It seems to have been forgotten.
Why do the council need the premises to provide a service to support adults with learning disabilities into paid employment when they already have 'Real Employment' at Briarcourt doing the same job?
Is it that Briarcourt could be closing so that Kirklees Council can sell the site?
What recession?
MY wife and I are sick to the teeth of reading and listening to talk of recession.
Can someone point out where the recession is? Because it is not Kirklees.
I have worked for Kirklees Council for 16 years and we have never had it so good.
Admittedly it was hard 12 months ago. Diesel was £1.25 a litre, food more expensive and gas and electric were going up every four months.
It is now coming down in price 10%, for example with British Gas. Diesel at £1.06. Food is cheaper as are mortgages.
Our friends have a £60,000 mortgage which is interest only and were paying £416 a month in April 2008 – they are now paying £72 a month.
We had a wage increase last year, though 2% was not enough, we still get support with running our cars and our pensions are secure.
How many people can say that?
There are still plenty of jobs working for Kirklees, the best employer in the country.
A SATISFIED CUSTOMER
Success won't help
REGARDING Kirklees Council's Brighter Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
In Mirfield, we have two excellent and oversubscribed secondary schools – Castle Hall a specialist language school with approximately 800 pupils of 11 to 16 and Mirfield Free Grammar, a specialist technology college with around 1,500 students of 11 to 16 and 400 of 16 to 18.
The declared objective of officers at KMC is that all state secondary schools will have at least 1,200 pupils in the 11 to 16 age group with no exceptions.
So, the plan is to force a merger of the two schools and enforce the school catchment areas to oblige any excess of students to go elsewhere.
The merger involves the closure of Castle Hall. It is no surprise that Castle Hall does not want to close, but Mirfield Free Grammar have repeatedly stated that they do not want to enlarge.
They are on a land-locked site with no room for expansion. Their buildings are not suitable for additional students.
The ridiculous thing is that Castle Hall is the top performing non-selective secondary school in Kirklees with Mirfield Free Grammar close behind. Success is no protection against this madcap scheme.
Remember that success and quality is no assurance against this attack on parental choice in education. You may care to start your campaigning now.
GEOFF FOSTER
Kirklees Council