Readers' letters - January 6

I read with absolute despair your article about paramedics fearing for their safety as they go about their jobs (WEP January 2).

It is such a sad indictment of society today when those who make caring for others their career and their life’s work are set upon by the very people they seek to help.

It beggars belief that nursing and medical staff too are subject to verbal and physical assaults when you consider their roles in society.

I am of a certain generation where police officers were respected, doctors were revered, nurses were loved and cherished and ambulance staff were your knights in shining armour if you were unfortunate in having to make that emergency call.

I wish to place on record my own gratitude, respect and affection for these people gained from my own personal experiences of life.

Rest assured, everybody will need the services of these fine professionals at one time in their lives so appreciate the fact that they are there to help you for no other reason than they care. My children and grandchildren are similarly educated to understand

this.

And this is what is desperately needed – education.

It needs parents to stand up and be counted and administer the discipline that so many are too lazy to instil in their children and, if necessary, their grandchildren.

Educate them and make them realise that when they are sick or victims of crime, these are the people who they are going to shout very loudly for and who will make the difference.

Don’t let wishy-washy do- gooders blame drink, drugs or any other less than valid reason to allow individuals to opt out of blame for these assaults and abuse.

In life, no matter what, we all carry personal responsibility for our actions. It is as simple as that.

Jimmy Gilliard

via email

hunting

Brutality is no solution

So your reader thinks foxes are ‘vermin’ and ‘need culling constantly’ (WEP January 3). I can think of another species which ‘kills for pleasure’ and its numbers are so high it is having a detrimental effect on our entire planet. We also spread illnesses too!

Thank goodness we don’t apply the same logic to humans!

It is not a class issue. Whether it is badger baiting by the ‘poor’, fox hunting by the ‘toffs’ or the ‘legal’ badger cull by the Government (another reason why I won’t vote Tory), in my view all these are cruel, arrogant and wrong.

I don’t think foxes kill for fun. I read they mean to return to the scene of the kill to eat the carcasses. I wonder if your reader has the same attitude to cats (and they really do kill for fun).

Even if foxes are a danger to farm animals, a more humane solution should be sought. Brutality is not the answer. Or is being chased for miles and being torn apart by fox hounds seen as humane these days? Am I being too sensitive?

Jane

via email

society

We need more council homes


I agree with Dr Glyn Powell about the housing crisis (WEP January 3). What is needed is more council/housing association homes and cheaper rents. If rents are too high, tenants will never be able to save for a deposit for their first home. Is there a point to building expensive big houses on green belt land if there is never a crackdown on extortionate rents?

CJK via email