'What's going on in our shire counties is disturbing' - Your Letters plus an ice cream rush brings extra jobs in 1992 heatwave, in our picture from the archives

What's going on in our shire counties is disturbing. Behind closed doors party political groups are squabbling about how to carve up county areas into large unitary mayor led local authorities as required by the UK Government. There does not appear to be much if any engagement of voters or MPs and the emerging options reflect what will be of party political rather than economic and democratic advantage.

All this is driven by what the government argues is the need to establish regional authorities with the scale and resources to drive economic growth. It is concerning that there does not appear any consensus of what are the regions or how local democratic accountability is to be delivered.

The whole exercise excludes the metropolitan area and its relation with the shires which surely defines our region.

Let's have a real debate on what our region needs.

George Morran, Midlands

Women’s right to be themselves

A young woman should be able to walk across Shrewsbury or Telford late at night scantily dressed, if that’s her choice, without the fear of being attacked. She should not have to be covered in robes to hide her body from the attention of men. That’s the fundamental difference in the settled British culture I was brought up in.

Men should be able to control themselves and women should be free from fear. I guess I’m old fashioned.

Mike Avery, Minsterley

Shropshire hero in Sherwood

The new television series 'Robin Hood' (MGM+ via Amazon Prime) has appropriated one of Shropshire's heroes Wild Edric (here Wild Aedric), and transposed him to Sherwood Forest, where he becomes a kind of woodland god for the Saxons who oppose the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham (played by Sean Bean). 

Godda, also part of the Edric saga, now becomes a fairy goddess. Edric and his outlaws in the time of William the Conqueror may indeed have been an inspiration for the legends of Robin Hood, but the television producers need to credit Shropshire with his origin, not just lift him out of his original setting without acknowledgement!

Nigel Sustins, Shrewsbury

Andrew’s lucky he’s around now

If ex-Prince Andrew had been the brother of Henry VIII, it's not just his privileges that would have been cut off!

Peter Steggles, Rushbury

Belief is drained at Molineux

Enough is enough.

Once again, the leadership of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fosun International has chosen the easy way out, sacking the manager to protect their image rather than confronting the deeper rot within the club. They handed Vítor Pereira a three-year contract in September, sold off key players for hefty profit, failed to reinvest meaningfully, and then expected results from a weakened squad.

This isn’t leadership. It’s asset management masquerading as ambition.

Wolves have become a case study in profit before passion, a proud football club reduced to a corporate asset on a spreadsheet. 

They talk about sustainability while hollowing out the team, leaving supporters to watch a revolving door of managers trying to rescue a project that has no footballing soul. 

Fosun’s own financial reports show the cracks: multi-billion-yuan losses last year, asset sales to raise liquidity, and a strategy of “streamlining” to ease debt. It’s clear where the priorities lie, balancing the books, not backing the badge. Wolves have paid the price for a parent company more focused on protecting its balance sheet than its club’s heart.

They have drained belief from Molineux. This isn’t about one coach or one bad start, it’s about an ownership that has lost touch with the club’s meaning, its supporters, and its responsibility.

If they won’t invest properly, then they should have the humility to find a credible buyer before there’s no value left to sell and no pride left to save.

Wolves deserve owners who see more than profit, who see the people, the city, and the legacy they represent.

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