Readers' letters - March 14

For more letters: https://www.wigantoday.net/news/your-say/readers-letters-march-13-1-9067726

Yet again we see how the government and the power regulator have no power over the energy suppliers.Now the benefits of having paperless bills, dual tariffs and monthly debit payments are being removed.So I call on all the elected councillors to ask all the elected party leaders to get around a table and have a discussion on the government providing an energy supplier run by the government, with only one fair tariff for gas and electricity.The benefits of this would be that the profits, instead of going to the shareholders, would go into the NHS and looking after the elderly. So taxes do not need to go up or new taxes made for the need of these services. Perhaps the name of the supplier could be Power for the People? To me this is a win-win for the government and people – the only losers being the energy suppliers and shareholders. I would be interested in councillors’ and readers’ views on this idea.MJ EllisonAddress suppliedSadness over snow reactionFollowing the recent snow episodes, I would like to remark upon the reaction to it. I note with sadness that everything seems to come to a halt, for example, schools closing for the day. It would seem this is because of the dreaded ‘health and safety’. This, in my view, is a smokescreen for teachers to also have a day off. This shows the pupils the way to behave in the future. We are breeding a generation of adults who, at the first sign of adversity, surrender to events and it breeds a lack of moral fibre. The media create a fire- storm of hysteria by naming events, such as the ‘Beast from the East’, therefore ‘bigging up’ events which, dare I say it, in the past would have been shrugged off and folk would simply carry on regardless. This is not some grumpy old (56-year-old) male reminiscing about the good old days, but a statement of fact. We oldies look at the current times and thank God that, in years to come, we will not be around to witness the decline of our fellow humans.Karl GrubbAddress suppliedDemand for equal rights

The British government is not pursuing a policy of fracking in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, but only in England.The British Prime Minister insists that fracking will benefit the UK. What the British Prime Minister means is that fracking will benefit Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland because it is only taking place in England.Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will not suffer any fear of their communities being exposed to any adverse health problems associated with fracking.Nor will they suffer from falling house and land values and affordability of insurance, and the detriment of thousands of lorries tearing through their communities and countryside. These issues will only happen in England.Unfortunately, it is English taxpayers who finance the running of the British Isles, but who are the last in the queue when it comes to receiving health and social care benefits, services and democracy, and whose infrastructure is the worst in Britain.The British government continues to ride roughshod over England and nothing will change until England has equal democratic rights with the rest of Britain.We must demand equal democratic rights for England and we must do it now. J Patrickvia emailDonkeys in Parliament

Watching Prime Minister’s Questions on TV, I have to laugh, being reminded of the old song, Donkey Serenade, with all the Ministers nodding their heads off in agreement to Theresa May’s every word. I wonder if they have carrots for their breakfast?Tarquin Holmanvia email