Readers' letters - September 5

I was appalled, yet not surprised, regarding the article, Menacing Youths Ordeal (LEP August 26).

As a former police inspector of the Ribble Valley still living locally, I personally warned MP Nigel Evans of the troubles that lay ahead if the austerity cuts to policing took place.

I invited him to come on patrol with me and to meet with my officers.

I never heard from him.

The MPs must take some responsibility for this lack of policing.

They did not listen when they were warned.

It is far too easy to now ‘demand policing’ when the staffing cuts have had such a significant impact on the number of officers on patrol.

I cannot believe Mr Evans has the audacity to make such comments after being so uninterested for so long.

Parents must also take some responsibility and control.

There is no excuse for not knowing where your children are and what they are doing.

Even in the summer holidays, it is not acceptable to allow children to roam free and cause fear amongst residents.

Last Thursday, around 2pm, I watched from a Longridge cafe as a group of young lads meandered up and down Berry Lane, swearing and acting like feral animals.

Even as a former police officer, I felt intimidated. The friends I was with identified these lads as the ones causing mayhem at the caravan park (as they had witnessed them).

Let’s name and shame these individuals and get their parents to accept responsibility and pay for any damage caused.

Longridge is a wonderful town and we have much to be proud of.

We must not let this minority of hooligans ruin what we have. We must work together and hold those responsible to account.

Jenny Coulston-Herrmann, retired police inspector

Suicide risk and abortion

Recent reports of accelerating numbers of suicides occurring after abortions carried out on vulnerable women highlights this increasing problem.

Many times this could have been avoided by a careful review of their previous medical history.

The most recent reported case concerned a 21-year-old mother-of-one, Jade Rees from Oldham, who hanged herself three weeks after the abortion took place.

The desire for an abortion was apparently due to the break-up of her five months’ relationship with the baby’s father.

Reports revealed that she had been battling depression since the age of 14 and also had an history of eating disorders.

Jade took her life whilst listening to a pop song about the heartbreak of suffering a miscarriage.

Apparently she left notes addressed to her parents and two-year-old son.

This case raises serious questions, which need answers, as to how it was possible that Jade was referred for an abortion in October 2015, when her previous medical history indicated her precarious mental state.

Under the 1967 Abortion Act, abortion is only permitted if two doctors attest that there are medical grounds.

Apparently in 98 per cent of cases, doctors now cite risk to mental health as the reason for an abortion to take place.

Unfortunately it is now well established that mental health problems are higher among post-abortion women and suicide risk is significantly higher after an abortion.

The Department for Health should surely be reviewing these increasing post-abortion suicide statistics with a view to amending the 1967 Abortion Act to ensure that doctors can be more explicit in identifying potential suicidal risk post-abortion patients and denying them access to abortion.

E J Tilley,

Chorley

Time for result to be accepted

What is it about Lib Dem Tim Farron that he clearly does not understand the result of the EU In/Out referendum, in which the majority – 17.4 million people – voted to leave, despite the “Project Fear” campaign from the establishment, which included him?

In his latest rant, delivered to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) in Manchester, he has suggested that the UK has become a laughing stock abroad since the vote to leave the EU and that “malevolent forces” were seeking to hijack the

result for their own political agenda.

Far from what was predicted, foreign investment is pouring into Britain with companies from around the world backing a record 2,213 British projects.

The CBI states that the growth in business and consumer services is higher than normal, which confirms that all of the scaremongering tactics were unfounded.

Tim Farron also went on to suggest that those who headed the Leave campaign are not representative of Britain.

This puts him clearly at odds with democracy and is an insult against the electorate who voted to leave the EU.

Doomsayers like Mr Farron will always find something to whinge about when they lose the argument and become an irrelevant spent force.

Britain has a very bright future outside the EU when we finally leave it, time for people like Mr Farron to accept it and move on!

Philip Griffiths