Readers' letters - August 4

The Passchendaele anniversary is a tragic reminder that wars raged in Europe for centuries and did not even end in 1918 after “the war to end all wars”.

One of the aims of closer European union following the Second World War from 1945 onwards was to ensure that war in Europe would never happen again and 70 years of peace in mainland Europe are, to me, the greatest legacy of the European Union.

My wife and I are so grateful that our two sons have not had to go to war and risk death, unlike previous generations, and a large measure of credit for that 70 years of peace in Europe is due to the European nations working together.

War with Germany is now unthinkable, but I can remember hearing bombs exploding outside my grandparents’ house in Newcastle.

This is why my wife and I campaigned to Remain.

We are not blind to the shortcomings of the EU organisation and the need for reform but compared with the bonus of peace, arguments about economics and immigration fade into insignificance.

So, whatever the final outcome of the Brexit negotiation, let us at least remain on the best possible terms with our European friends and neighbours.

Gerald Hodgson

Address supplied

brexit

Lib Dems’ duty to oppose Brexit

Regarding the letter from D Wood (Vince Cable – yet another dud leader, LP Letters, July 31 ).

The result of the General Election in June has taken away a large part of the authority of those who said that we must leave the EU at any cost.

Many of the candidates elected as MPs are opposed to the Prime Minister’s vision of what Brexit means. She no longer has the authority to impose a solution that would bring about economic disaster, involving the loss of many jobs and increased cost of living for all of us.

Elected Liberal Democrats MPs have promised to “protect Britain’s place in Europe” and oppose Brexit. They have the right and the duty to carry out that commitment.

Those who support Brexit at any cost have to show that, as a result of Britain leaving the EU, ordinary people in this country will not be financially and economically worse off.

Bill Greene

Blackpool

entertainment

Jeremy Vine is everywhere

I refer to the debate on BBC broadcasters’ pay.

The BBC’s claim that you have to pay the going rate is somewhat self-inflicted.

Given they are not under the same pressure as commercial broadcasters to produce an instant hit, what do they do about nurturing home-grown talent?

Creating more talented broadcasters would reduce individuals’ pay. I have lost count how many programmes Jeremy Vine (pictured) is on – from The Jeremy Vine Show and election specials to Eggheads etc – and he is far from unique in the limited pool the BBC use.

I see and hear that much of Mr Vine, I half expect him to be staring up at me one morning when I draw back my curtains. He seems to get everywhere else.

Andrew Suter

via email

energy

‘No victims of minor breach’

Cuadrilla had its drilling rig delivered to the site outside its planning conditions.

So what? Was anyone inconvenienced or disturbed by this other than the anti-frackers who were caught napping? No, not really. If anything, it was better all round – less aggravation for the police and less traffic chaos for residents and road users.

Unlike the behaviour of activists who have broken laws since the start of the year, Cuadrilla’s minor breach of a planning condition was victimless. The anti-frackers can hardly say that, can they?

Toby Errock

Freckleton

energy

Oil spilllage a bad sign

The Liverpool Bay oil and gas workings are subject

to the

highest standard

of monitoring and operation.

The offshore storage tanker is designed with “safety as a key priority”.

It is manned around the clock, protected by an exclusion zone and “continuously monitored by radar and patrolled 24 hours by a high powered support boat”.

So, nothing can possibly go wrong!

The recent contamination of the beaches of Blackpool by tar and oil was the result of a spillage from these “safe” installations.

Do these assurances of safe workings sound familiar?

What credence now can we place on the guarantees given to the safety of fracking?

Paul Parton

via email

gratitude

Thanks to staff at hospital

Through your columns,

may I thank the staff of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary who looked after me and rescued me from my accident.

Thanks to Tim and Julie (paramedics), Jonathan and Ben (ambulance), everyone in A&E who saw me safely to the assessment ward, the dedicated and patient doctors and nurses and lastly the kind people who offered help and advise and the physios (thanks for the stick, I’ll return it).

Patricia Lewis

Address supplied

crime

Open prison is a contradiction

Re: Kirkham Prison. If men have absconded from this ‘open prison’, surely they didn’t ‘escape’. They simply walked out.

Whoever put ‘open’ and ‘prison’ in the same sentence is barmy.

Mike Picewicz

via email

language

We’re English, not American

Why call Preston areas “Quarters “ when they are not? Pseudo American nonsense. There are perfectly good time-hallowed Northern English names.

Roger Little

via email