Readers' letters - May 23

Last Thursday, May 17, the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport reduced the maximum stake on fix-odds betting terminals from £100 every 20 seconds to £2.

This is a positive step, but it still doesn’t address the issue of online betting.

For some, gambling addiction will move from the real world to the virtual world, online.

Fixed-odds betting terminals and, to a lesser extent, The National Lottery and the like are a tax on the poor.

It beggars belief that these machines, up until now, have had so little regulation from Central Government. The same applies to the loan shark industry.

It is allowed to roam this country taking money with menace like a modern day Dick Turpin.

There is no situation so dire that a politician can’t make worse.

Regulations in this country can be quite severe when it comes to parking, fishing and dog ownership, just to name a few.

But multi-national companies and wealthy individuals can ‘rob’ people with impunity, sometimes causing them to take their own lives, as they see it as the only way out of the nightmare they find themselves in.

The welfare of the people should be the supreme law.

The vulnerable in our society need more protection on these important matters.

John Booker

via email

energy

Give fracking

a chance

Re: ‘Fast track’ fracking move sparks anger (LP May 18).

We need to consider the current UK situation regarding energy supply and energy security.

I think that well-regulated fracking should be allowed to be developed to prove whether it can be done safely, or not. The UK needs to develop an independent source of natural gas for the following reasons:

n North Sea gas supplies are diminishing, we need future energy security. The fact is eight out of 10 homes in the UK are heated by gas. Gas also supplies 24 per cent of our electricity and is used as the standby to generate electricity when the wind fails to blow. Gas is also used in many industrial processes.

n We will need gas for many years to come. It will take many decades and major investment to convert from a gas economy to an all-electric one.

n The negative effect on our balance of payments and the UK economy of importing energy. Without an indigenous supply of gas, we will have to import both gas and electricity from Europe, which is dependant on Russia for a significant supply of gas and which can be restricted in cold conditions or for political reasons.

We should also be aware that all of our coal-fired power stations are scheduled for closure and that several of our ageing nuclear power stations will also have to close in the next few years.

Intermittent wind and solar will never meet the total UK demand.

I ask people to back Britain and to give fracking for natural gas a chance to be developed for our benefit.

Vincent Booth

Address supplied

entertainment

A credit to

new owners

We attended the Palace Cinema in Longridge last Thursday to watch The Greatest Showman and was pleased to see that they have kept it traditional.

You can still get your cups of tea and the usual popcorn and ice cream.

They have added hot dogs to the menu and there is a bar area where you can have a drink before the film.

The sound system is brilliant. The cinema is a credit to the new owners who made everyone feel very welcome.

You can also book online, which is a far cry from when we did our courting there in the 1960s and paid our shilling or 1s 6d. Still good value for money though.

Paul Byrne

via email

search

I’m looking for June and John

I’m trying to contact some very dear friends, June and John Gore. They live in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley.

They have a son, Andrew, who joined the police in Blackburn. He would be about 40. We would like to contact them as we are now in Oz. Here’s hoping.

John and Linda Smith

Australia

Please email [email protected] or ring 01772 554537 and we will pass details on to John and Linda.

royalty

Inequality in our society

The Royal Wedding brought into sharp focus the entrenched inequality in our society.

There are the ultra privileged and there are those with nothing – cleaned off the streets. A progressive wedding? No, just more of the same.

Nathan Skelly

Blackpool