Readers' letters

Bonfire piles have appeared across the UK in preparation for November 5. If you know of a bonfire being organised, ask the organisers to make sure they do all they can to keep hedgehogs, and other wildlife, safe. Here are some tips to pass on:

n Before lighting the bonfire, use broom handles or other blunt poles to lift the pile up from the base, shine a torch inside and look and listen for signs of life;

When lighting the bonfire, light only from one side so that there is still an escape route should any hedgehog have been missed;

If a hedgehog is found, contain it in a high-sided box somewhere safe and quiet. Offer meaty pet food and water in the box and put an old towel in the box so that the hedgehog can hide under it;

Release the hedgehog later when the fire is thoroughly dampened down and offer more food and water;

If you find an injured hedgehog, make sure it is safely in a box and indoors with food and water, then call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890801 for advice and/or contact details of the local hedgehog carer.

The BHPS website at www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk gives lots of useful information and advice on how to preserve our native hedgehogs. Let’s give them a helping hand.

Laura Deacon

on behalf of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society

brexit

Future lies outside EU

Following the referendum result to leave the EU and, despite the continued gloomy predictions from the so-called ‘experts’, the British economy remains resilient and has grown by 0.5 per cent in the last quarter along with a rise in sterling.

It is encouraging to hear that the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, said: “I will be working hard – I will work very intensely to ensure that this transition is fast and is smooth,” adding that Britain would not face a trade “vacuum or a disruption” when we leave the EU.

The EU is in complete turmoil, its economy is shrinking by the year, its banks are in trouble and it has massive problems with immigrants who are using its open borders policy to their own advantage. We are leaving at the right time.

Outside the 27 remaining member states is a much bigger world and at least 165 non-EU countries that account for most of the world economic growth. That is where are future lies for our prosperity, which is why the majority voted to leave the EU.

Philip Griffiths

North West President, UKIP (UK Independence Party)

brexit

Darker days lie ahead

When Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, I did not always agree with his policies and marched in London against the invasion of Iraq.

Mr Blair has stated in a newspaper that the withdrawal from the EU is the greatest foreign policy disaster this country will ever know. It could take at least 10 years for this country to rebuild, if ever.

I totally agree with him on that statement.

Now, in some parts of the country, unemployment is on the rise, plus the cost of living is on the increase. This is what happens when petrol or diesel prices go up. We have been advised on TV news to shop early for Christmas as prices will rise.

People who it will affect will be pensioners, one-parent families and the unemployed. Darker days ahead.

John G Wildie via email