Readers' letters

The devastating prospect of Aleppo and its population now being pulverised into submission, recently raised by our Foreign Secretary and caused by the combined forces of Syria and Russia, can be traced directly to President Obama’s empty threat in 2013 that, if Asad used poison gas against his people, he could expect a direct response from the USA .

This poison gas attack was subsequently carried out by Asad but the threatened USA response never materialised due to President Obama’s decision that America should not get involved.

Unfortunately this pathetic non-response emboldend Putin to subsequently step into that vacuum in what he considered to be the demonstrated weakness of the West and the systematic daily Syrian population devastation, which has occurred since then, is a matter of historical record.

Of course Putin has heavily increased his forces in Syria supporting Asad and his murderous regime under the pretext of protecting Russia’s Naval Base already established there.

Putin has been progressively testing the West over the last few years in any event, seeing how far he can try the West’s readiness and patience to respond to his outrageous antics in flying his planes across our and many European airspaces.

Not to mention his literal invasion and infiltration of his democratic neighbour Ukraine and the recently internationally proven event of Russia’s occupying forces actually shooting down an airliner, killing hundreds of innocents overflying Ukraine

Many Putin apologists have stated that much of his behaviour may have been caused by the West’s unfeeling encouragement of many of Russia’s former satellite countries to join the international organisation NATO, thus guaranteeing their safety by all other member nations in declared theory of coming to their assistance in the event of a threat.

The ineffectiveness of this may already have been proven in Ukraine’s case, where the West was not prepared to engage Putin’s Russia in a possible nuclear world war over this proven invasion of his democratic neighbour.

So it appears we shall have to be prepared to endure much more of Putin’s international irrational behaviour. This has been made worse by the West provoking him further by imposing sanctions on Russia due to his previous actions.

It is certainly strange that one nation can seemingly continue to get away with this behaviour whilst the West is incapable of acting. Perhaps a new American President will yet show the West the leadership necessary to resolve these problems?

E J Tilley, Chorley

Fracking will lose Tories votes

I couldn’t agree more with the comments on fracking from Paul Marsland (LEP October 13). Sajid Javid’s comments supporting his decision to allow fracking were based on the fact adjacent house prices and public health were not important. Not to him, this Government or Cuadrilla perhaps, but they are of vital importance to the people whose lives will be affected by this decision.

Can you imagine the furore if any of the shale gas companies applied for permission to drill in the Home Counties? When I served on the planning committee on our local council, effects on adjacent properties and the opinions of people were of primary consideration. This Government obviously has no such concerns.

Come the next general election, given the massive opposition to this dirty business, I can see the political colour of most of Lancashire turning away from its traditional bright blue because our new Prime Minister has now proven herself to be a liar. “Democracy, a Government for and of the people.” Rubbish!

Given Corbyn’s public stance on banning fracking, the map colour will surely change.

David Nicholls, Warton

Poole’s oil wells are not fracked

Mr Cook paints a picture of wildlife and tourists in Dorset, happily co-existing with the nearby oil farm in Poole Harbour, and suggests we google Wytch Farm for a perspective on shale gas in the Fylde (LEP October 11).

I took up his suggestion.

The oil wells at Wytch Farm are conventional wells, they have not been fracked, and this form of oil extraction is very different from the plans to extract shale gas by high volume hydraulic fracturing at Preston New Road.

So in this context, it is worth noting that Dorset County Council imposed planning conditions in 2013, which specifically prohibit fracking wells for shale gas there because “it is located in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the UK.”

Says it all really.... so I would like to thank him for this perspective on shale gas.

T Froud, Lytham

Halloween – a bizarre event

There is an epidemic of ‘killer clowns’ all over the country. But hang on a second, isn’t this October? And aren’t the supermarkets full of scary masks dripping with fake blood, Dracula outfits, screaming skeletons and witches’ brooms for Halloween?

Scream masks have been replaced by killer clown make-up and every type of barbaric weapon you could dream of made in plastic. It’s little wonder when we celebrate such a bizarre event that our children are terrified and confused.

Darryl Ashton, Blackpool

Think of the pedestrians

Why do car drivers park on footpaths, making it impossible for pedestrians to get past?

Anyone with a pram, wheelchair or mobility scooter cannot get past without going on to the road. It is more difficult for someone with a mobility scooter to get from pavement to road as there is usually a big drop.

I have been told it is illegal to park on pavements, but obviously drivers do not consider pedestrians.

My 92-year-old father has a mobility scooter and went out on it the other day and couldn’t get past a white van. He had to reverse and go onto the road. No consideration for anyone these days.

A very disgruntled resident