'Shropshire gets crumbs while London takes the big slice' - your letters, and a 1971 archive moment of hospital helpers

Different rules for Shropshire

The latest billion pound transport project in London is the extension of the Docklands Light Railway. A mere £1.7 billion to be precise.

There was a 'token' delay while it was 'considered', but it would always secure the funding, no doubt on the grounds of facilitating economic growth and reducing CO2 emissions.

In reality there are extremely influential companies in the Docklands that can apply political pressure and get the ear of ministers and secretaries of state. So it's a foregone conclusion: London gets what it wants, as do some other favoured areas of the country.

Contrast that with Shropshire, an area that would be pleased to receive funding to improve bus services and bring a couple of rail lines back into use.

No, Shropshire along with other rural counties can be quietly forgotten. Here growth doesn't matter, neither does getting to work, education, social isolation, leisure and of course the High Street.

The pleas from our political representatives can be ignored or met with comfortable platitudes that amount to nothing. Yet we are expected to meet government housing targets, putting even more pressure on our crumbling, pot-holed roads and infrastructure.

Here council funding is squeezed to the point of near bankruptcy which is the point when the men and women from the Ministry would be sent to 'sort things out' following a 114 declaration.

The promised 'Bus Revolution?' er...not yet...

Government finance only exists from what we pay in taxes and you may well say we in Shropshire, get the crumbs of the national cake as the big slices go to the 'influential' places. It's robbery hiding in plain sight and needs calling out. So, I suggest our Representatives in Government dispense with Parliamentary Protocol and tell it as it is. Ok Lindsay Hoyle may get a bit flustered at the use of unparliamentary discourse, but no doubt as a northerner, he'll secretly approve and chuckle to himself on his way home.

Mike Crump, Bridgnorth

Jenrick should not be lauded

Robert Jenrick's name has been much in the news lately.

Well he's defected from the Conservative and Unionist Party to Reform.

A right wing hero following a heroic path.

Jenrick was the creature who while a minister in the Home Office ordered the removal of welcoming murals from child immigration centres.

Orphans, often traumatised by war, famine and persecution who had crossed continents alone and at the mercy of human traffickers.

Jenrick decreed that the centres should be subject to the full austerity and dehumanisation of the centres.

It seems to me that the architect of this monstrous act does not merit recognition as a human being.

Not even in Reform.

Francis Biard, Stafford

Consider hounds in hunt debate

Reading that a ban on trail hunting could lead to hundreds of hounds being 'put down' should not be used to oppose government plans. Instead it is an argument raising issues questioning the ethics and economics of the 'hunting industry'. 

Threats that the lives of hunting hounds could be put at risk is 'moral blackmail'; and if owners of these animals were really concerned about the welfare of their 'packs' then they would safeguard their future.

Perhaps one should also question responsible dog ownership and breeding. I would suggest that if a 'dog's life' is dependent upon being part of a hunt then the owners are treating animal as a disposable resource; and not valuing the life of the animal.

Labour Party policy has always opposed hunting culminating in the Hunting Act of 2004. For more than 20 years it could be argued that breeders have irresponsibly continued to raise animals for a precarious sport whose days are numbered.

Finally, every years thousands of unwanted dogs are euthanised as a result of overbreeding. On what ethical basis do supporters of 'hunting hounds' claim a special exemption for their animals while accepting the routine destruction of thousands of unwanted dogs?

Roger Norton, Shrewsbury

Fears of city’s antisemitism

As the parent of a Jewish student considering university in Birmingham, I am saddened – although not entirely surprised — to learn police had intelligence indicating that a gang of residents were planning to attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before the match against Aston Villa. 

I also understand that there is a significant and intimidating presence in the city. It is deeply troubling that, in today’s Britain, I have to think about levels of antisemitism when choosing a university for my daughter.

Name and address supplied

Have an opinion? Want to be heard? We want to hear your voice!

Write to Readers' letters at [email protected]

Letters to the editor must include the writer’s name and address and will only be published anonymously in exceptional circumstances. The editor reserves the right to condense or amend letters.

Do you have any pictures from the past you would like to share with us? 

Do need help recognising an old street, old faces? If so, send them to [email protected] including your name, where you are from, and as much information as you can about the photo(s) and we will publish as many as we can online and in print.