'The current Wimbledon Championships is turning into some kind of celebrity special' - Your Letters: July 9

I am a bit concerned that the BBC’s coverage of the current Wimbledon Championships is turning into some kind of celebrity special.

Before this year the between point cameras would always focus upon the enjoyments of the crowds.

But in this latest tournament they seem to habitually swing towards The Royal Box so that we can see the rich and the famous, in their best bib and tucker enjoying the action.

Why do celebrities have access to The Royal Box, which also apparently affords them all kinds of perks and privileges, free Panama hats for example? 

And how many of these Royal Box ‘luvvies’ will still be counting themselves as socialists when they vacate their elitist Wimbledon seats at courtside?

Alan Jones, West Midlands

SUPPORTING BAN ON CAR MENACE 

Friday 22 November 2025 marks four years since the previous government’s consultation on pavement parking in England closed. Cars parked on, and sometimes hogging the whole pavement, will be a familiar sight.

Pavement parking is dangerous especially for families with young children, people with sight loss and disabled people. A recent poll found that 87 per cent of parents have had to walk in the road because of a vehicle blocking the pavement. It damages pavement surfaces too.

Living Streets has been campaigning on this issue for over 50 years and it's high time we saw an end to the problem. Pavement parking has been banned (with exemptions) in London since the 1970s. Scotland adopted a similar approach to London which came into force during 2024. We hope your readers will join Living Streets and supporters like me, in urging the Government to deal with the troubling legacy of pavement parking once and for all. Everyone will be the better for it.

Tracy Lawson, Essington

LEADERSHIP IS ABOUT BALANCE

Sitting here on 'The Red Wall' It appears that, in turbulent times, PM Starmer's leadership is rightly being challenged - this is a democracy not a dictatorship. Fortunately he does not govern with slogans but with a lawyer's caution and a leader's burden. Leadership is rarely about pleasing everyone but about making decisions to bring about change and long-term stability. Whether on welfare reform or foreign policy it is a balance between principles and public finances or values against viability.

Starmer has listened to his critics and 'made changes', hopefully for pragmatic reasons not a 'pander to populism'. Leaders must not have blind loyalty from their supporters but whilst we have the right to criticise we must also have patience in the outcomes of their long-term vision.

Of course I have waited more than fifty years for a Labour government to abolish the House of Lords; until they do I shall moan for another fifty years.

Roger Norton, Shrewsbury

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