READERS' VIEWS 15/1

14 January 2009

Not all honours are well deserved

IN RESPECT of your comments regarding the honours system and our recent communiqué, you have respectfully missed the point completely - Editor's comment last week.
We do agree that there are many worthy awardees of our national honours system but where if you look at the long-term statistics of national honours awarded you will find that over 50 per cent, and nudging towards 75 per cent, are awarded to the civil service.
There is a bias therefore, which is not healthy either in economic terms for the nation (which the present financial climate is a prime example) or for a socially coherent society.
Rugby being a great place of national engineering heritage should know better than most that Britain has lost a great deal of its engineering prowess. Much of this is down to the inept thinking over the long-term in Whitehall and the senior civil servants who occupy those buildings.
We were not therefore attacking the system for worthy people but to outline a great disparity in award giving by our politicians against those who create wealth and those who basically rely on those who make it.
Indeed, the people of Rugby in my mind, and for well over 150 years, are far more worthy candidates for national awards as they have contributed immensely to the manufacture of British goods that have created the UK's long-term wealth. That cannot be said for senior civil servants who have watched over and managed the boom-and-bust cycle that has now crippled our nation, but where still they indeed receive platitudes and knighthoods for the sorry state that they have got us all into.
If you believe therefore that this is right then we might as well forget about the real people who provide what wealth we currently provide and leave it all to those who just simply take from the system and give very little back. That was the point I was making and no more.
Dr David Hill, Executive director of the World Innovation Foundation Charity (WIFC), Bern, Switzerland

Council will be prudent

OVER the course of the last few weeks there have been many letters written advocating that during these uncertain times local authorities should be looking to cut their costs and not expect taxpayers to meet any shortfall.
My position as the leader of Rugby Borough Council is that I entirely agree.
Any household in our borough that cannot meet its cost will be doing the same thing and I am well aware of the burden that Council Tax has become. Local authorities must recognise this and cannot be insulated from the realities that are going on around us.
We have, like you, faced huge increased in utility bills and have had to deal with creeping inflation but I am confident we will be able to retain the excellent services we provide at an affordable cost.
Council Tax for Rugby, under my leadership, has hovered under inflation, some of the smallest increases in our history.
Readers can be assured we will continue to be prudent and not profligate with their money.
Coun Craig Humphrey, Leader of Rugby Borough Council

We must always help people in need

WHILST driving along Craven Road last Thursday afternoon I witnessed a young man suddenly collapse in the middle of the road at the junction with Bath Street.
As a registered nurse, I immediately stopped my car and went to the assistance of the gentleman who was fitting, in a state of unconsciousness and bleeding heavily from a face wound.
Luckily for him there were some fantastic passers-by who called the paramedics and provided me with the assistance to support and cushion his head and maintain his airway, but due to his condition he could not be moved at that point.
However, I was extremely disappointed that whilst we were in the middle of the road, attempting to maintain his airway, many cars and large vehicles drove past us just inches from his head, thereby jeopardising the safety of both the young man and his aiders. This did not cease until the paramedic parked his ambulance across the road to remedy the situation.
What condition does a person need to be in before they are given consideration from some drivers?
Whilst I do understand that people have got jobs to do and places to go - I was on my way to an appointment myself - it was not rush hour and realistically how much longer does it take to perform a small detour to maintain the safety of an individual who is already in a potential crisis situation?
I am saddened that some people show such scant regard for the well-being of others and would encourage them to put themselves in the position of the individual involved and reflect on how they may have felt in the same circumstances.
Tamsin Keay, Princes Street, Rugby

Thanks for your support

I SHOULD like to thank the residents of Rugby for their generosity in the weeks leading up to Christmas during the Rokeby Lions Christmas Float.
2008 was a record collection in excess of £5,000, this was achieved with help from members of the Boys Brigade and the Sea Cadets to whom I am very grateful.
Martyn Priest, President, Rugby Rokeby Lions Club

Christmas came to a sudden and unwelcome end

A NUMBER of shoppers at Sainsbury's in Dunchurch stared in disbelief on Christmas Eve when with Dunchurch Brass Band playing Christmas carols in the entrance hall staff in the main shopping area and restaurant started to take down the Christmas decorations!
Nobody could quite believe that on the day the 12 days of Christmas start, one of the festivals principal features was being removed.
Inquiring of the manager who was standing close by, why this was so, I was informed in a somewhat grumpy and irritated manor that the staff "had been working their socks off" for the last few weeks, that the 25th was the only day of the year the store was closed and that the tinsel might cause the alarms to go off, resulting in some poor unfortunate being called in to put them off. Moreover, I should have better things to do than make such an inquiry.
The point being made remains valid - for the whole of the 12 days of Christmas the store remains without decoration. What kind of Christmas spirit does this show? With the run up to the festival over and the profit margin fulfilled, Christmas was being immediately dumped until next year. I, a mere customer, had had the effrontery to question the profit motive and not merely consume.
Well, come Summer 2009 and the 'advent' of ASDA, we will all be able to vote with our feet, Mr Manager.
Name and address supplied

Publicity helped make day special

WE WOULD would like to thank the Observer for the publicity you gave to the Benn Partnership's Christmas Day event.
We also had help from Tesco's, who donated turkeys and Christmas puddings, Marks & Spencers, Mitchells Potatoes, Cemex and Rugby FM.
Special thanks are also due to our wonderful team of helpers - Bill, Rose, Sue, Robbie, Hazel, Navin, Susan, Liz, Naresh and Bulbir - and not forgetting the leadership of our centre manager, Gita.
Thanks to all the above and the thirty or so people who joined us, we all enjoyed a wonderful day.
Ann Burge, Volunteer, Benn Partnership Centre, Railway Terrace, Rugby

Free parking is a sign of goodwill

AT LAST I have have had some response from Walsgrave Hospital regarding parking on Christmas day at the hospital.
I have had an email from our local MP Jeremy Wright's secretary telling me they are waiving charges on Christmas day 2009 and 2010.
Maybe by going through our MP and getting  your views printed in the local paper is the only way to get a response from the hospital, so I thank you for this.
Des O'Driscoll, Jenkins Road, Hillmorton

Donations have been very welcome

I WOULD like to say 'thank you' via the paper from our team for all the help, time, support and donations received over the last eight months of fund raising.
Without such a massive team effort and response from local businesses and individuals we would not have banked such a good amount towards our expedition.
The leaders and youngster have worked really hard since May and achieved a massive amount, not just financially but in life skills learnt and confidence gained. Over the last four months they have held a balloon race, curry quiz night, bonfire party, Christmas raffle, chocolate tombola, bag packed at both Tesco and Sainsbury's. Soo as you can see they really have worked hard.
They are all well aware of how lucky they are to be going on such an expedition in the summer but would like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone who's supported them in any way in 2008.
Alison Wilson, Fund-raiser, Rugby Explorer Scouts Canada 2009 Expedition

We must push for a ceasefire

THERE is almost universal alarm at the tragedy unfolding in Gaza and a growing determination to bring it to an end.
The EU's response, although it likes to pose as a great world power, has been fractured and chaotic, with several separate and uncoordinated initiatives going on. So much for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. But it seems that President Sarkozy's Franco-Egyptian plan may be gaining some traction, and we must all hope that it succeeds very soon.
However I am concerned at the very one-sided view of events presented by organisations ranging from the BBC to Oxfam. They can see only one victim, Gaza, and only one villain, Israel.
The reality is that the people of Gaza chose to elect Hamas, which is recognised internationally as a terrorist organisation, and which always puts its hostility to Israel ahead of any concern for the well-being of its people. It is Hamas which has poured rocket and mortar fire indiscriminately onto civilian areas in Israel for many years. It is Hamas which chose to break the ceasefire which was in place until recently.
Those who condemn Israel have to answer the question: what else could Israel have done to protect its citizens? Every other option has been tried. We should not condemn Israel unless we can offer a better option, and I have yet to see one.
That said, the international community must continue to press urgently for a lasting ceasefire, and for access for humanitarian supplies to start flowing again. But we will not achieve that unless Israel can be offered credible guarantees of security, both immediately and in the longer term.
Roger Helmer, MEP for the East Midlands

NOTWITHSTANDING your recent article that there would be no cuts in front line services, we have recently been informed that the villages of Shawell, Swinford and Catthorpe would not be served by bus service 140 after January 26.
This will automatically add to the isolation of these villages as not everyone drives, particularly the elderly, and we thought that government policy was directed towards more use of public transport. In this case the question would be – what public transport?
The consultation period – if it can be called such – seemed to be by noon on January 12. Considering the poor information on this issue, I am reminded of a similar situation in the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Uldis Revelins, Via email

Party was a great success

THANKS to everyone who supported the Silhouettes party at the Wycliffe Rooms in Lutterworth on New Year's Eve.
Special thanks go all companies and businesses who gave raffle prizes, especially Lords of Wigston who gave the star prize of a 19in television with built-in DVD recorder.
With a donation from the band and all the money raised by raffle ticket sales we were very proud to raise a total of £400 for the Breast Cancer Campaign.
Thanks again to everyone who attended, we couldn't have done it without you.
Sue and Dave Green, Ashby Parva

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