December 2: MP no help in fight to save post office
I see that Sally Keeble, MP for Northampton North, has decided to give herself a pat on the back because she sat on the Treasury Select Committee to keep the Post Office Card Account with the Post Office (Viewpoint, Nov 21).
But what of the 2,500 post offices that have been closed this year (mine included!), bringing hardship to many elderly people?
Maybe they could not close any more post offices because of fear of further embarrassment.
I fought, along with my lawyer, to save my post office for seven months, with many others who protested. I only hope this was a warning shot to the Government.
Earlier this year, there was a delay in announcing closure of offices between April 7 and May 2, until after the local elections had taken place.
Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat, quoted this would be good news if it meant the end of post office closure but it was only the stay of execution.
Also, 90 labour MPs backed the campaign to save the post office.
That is 90 out of 355 but, when it came down to the crunch, only 19 actually voted against the Government.
Sally Keeble stated she abstained from voting because she could not vote against her own party. What a load of rubbish!
I thought that if you are elected to an office, you do what your constituents and members want for the best.
I would like to suggest if we want new entertainment on TV, let's invite the Government on and call it the New Muppet Show.
The only thing Sally Keeble is good at is her catchphrase "You know" every time you hear her on the radio.
David Masters,
Harlestone Stores (formerly The Post Office), Upper Harlestone, Northampton.
Labour recruits for the BNP
I Had to smile at your columnist John Dickie's latest rant against the "rats" that dared to vote for the BNP and are named on the leaked members' list. Read any Voltaire lately?
The Guardian has had a professional study of the list and come to the conclusion that the great majority are blue collar workers that traditionally voted Labour and now vote BNP because of the high legal and illegal immigration that New Labour has presided over.
In the last 12 months, we read, a further 270,000 immigrants have joined us in the UK and would need a town the size of Northampton and Wellingborough combined to house them all in.
How bad is that?
The inconvenient truth, according to Channel 4's Dispatches programme, is that 83 per cent of the population consider that we have a population crisis, 84 per cent wanted a reduction in all immigration, and 69 per cent of people surveyed thought multiculturalism had been a total failure.
Serious politicians, like the excellent Labour MP Frank Field, have confirmed that the high rates of immigration are untenable and provide no economic benefit to the UK, making a lie of the Government's and immigration supporters club's previous claim that immigration was essential to maintain the country's financial success.
I suppose that makes Frank Field a rat too in Mr Dickie's estimation, or does he just need some good, old-fashioned brainwashing in a PC-correct gulag?
People, including me, are sick of social engineering on a massive scale forced on us by New Labour and its fellow travellers against the majority's will.
They are the best recruiting sergeant for the BNP and are running scared that the BNP could have four European MEPs in next year's election.
John Wright,
Port Road, Northampton.
No evidence for academy success
"Academy is only option to raise performance at struggling school", declares the county council on your front page of November 27, highlighting an inside article about proposals to turn Weston Favell School into an academy.
However, nowhere in this article is any evidence offered to support such a dubious statement.
Among the benefits claimed by academy supporters are "additional funding" and "close partnership with the county council, local schools, other education providers and community agencies".
These are worthwhile benefits but why should they depend on becoming an academy?
The Government's academies programme has never been evidence-based.
Supporters of the local authority system have called for a sample of community schools to be given the extra resources now only available to academies.
This would provide a fair test.
At present, what research there is shows only marginal progress for more successful academy students and none for disadvantaged ones.
An academy school passes from the control of a democratically elected local authority into the control of unaccountable private interests.
With both secondary schools in the east of the town as academies, where does that leave parental choice?
Northampton now faces the prospect of three academies, with two more schools loosening their ties to the local authority through trust and foundation status.
This will not serve the best interests of the town's children.
John Buckell,
Cavendish Drive, Northampton.
No real support for a merger
I write with feelings of dismay, disgust and confusion after hearing the news that Weston Favell School is yet again destined for a period of uncertainty.
I recently attended the official opening of the new buildings, along with the political and educational establishment of the area.
The fact that they are PFI and will be a monetary albatross around our necks for generations to come is another matter; what now rings so hollow are the words, which spoke of new beginnings and better opportunities.
Having spoken to a number of staff, students and parents, the real heart and soul of any school, I gained the impression that the majority were optimistic about its future and strongly opposed to any merger or take-over with or by some unelected, unaccountable, unproven organisation.
The impression, given in your article, of positive support for change is not evident at grass roots level.
The Liberal Democrats have built their reputation, proudly and with justification, upon being the voice for local people and local issues.
Are they to stand meekly by and allow this to happen?
The schools of our town have been through an unprecedented period of change.
The disappearance of middle schools and the massive building programmes have had a massive and largely detrimental effect upon a generation of pupils.
What all schools, including Weston Favell, desperately need now is a period of stability.
Northampton has dedicated and inspiring teachers, willing and able pupils, supportive parents and now a great infrastructure.
Give them time to bed down and produce a system of which we can all be proud.
Harry Bowden,
The Headlands, Northampton.
A family home
Please could you accept this as a letter of complaint, regarding your description of me, the owner of Heyford Mill.
You keep describing me as a developer, which leads people to believe I am only renovating the mill for financial gain.
I am a carpenter, not a developer.
The mill has been a integral part of my family's life for the past three years.
Each decision made at the mill is made with the sole intention of creating a special family home.
Some people do not agree with what I have done at the mill but, like me, all had the opportunity to purchase it.
No-one who has disagreed with what I have done ever tried to purchase it, or raise funds to preserve its existence.
Criticism is one of life's easiest pastimes.
If anyone wants to put their money where their opinion is, then please get in touch.
Julian Moriarty,
Heyford Mill, Upper Heyford.
Tel: 07850 220651.
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Tributes paid to Niamh Curry as brave five-year-old loses battle against cancer
- BREAKING NEWS: Pensioner dies after collision at Northampton shopping centre
- Man tied to tree and beaten on Northampton Racecourse
- BREAKING NEWS: Woman’s body found after ‘suicide’ in Northampton hotel room
- BREAKING NEWS: Seven-year-old boy dies following house fire in Northamptonshire
- Staff strike at Northampton school over academy plans forces closure
- Northampton binmen at ‘breaking point’
- Saints’ stadium plans get support as long as traffic issues solved
- Eastern European pupils helping school standards across Northampton
- Exclusive: PM David Cameron says Northamptonshire Police Commissioner role is “a big job for a big local figure”
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
