Readers' letters

I am responding to your front page article, That’s our Boy, regarding the victorious Andy Burnham in his successful campaign to be Labour Mayor for Greater Manchester ((WEP August 10).

Even though I do not support the position nor the concept of a Greater Manchester region, I want to congratulate Andy Burnham on his success.

Anything that triumphs over the domination of the Manchester elite gets my full support and you cannot get much better than a Scouser representing a Lancashire constituency in Parliament, namely Leigh, to rub salt into the wounds of the defeated and power diminished Manchester centric elite.

I hope this significant decision by Labour members will result in a shift in resources and investment away from Manchester into other parts of Greater Manchester like Wigan and Leigh, as in the past Manchester’s revival has been at the expense of other towns and cities like Wigan.

Mr Burnham will become Mayor of Greater Manchester, the overwhelming majority being located in the historic County of Lancashire and, having already represented a true Lancashire town in Leigh, we can hope Mr Burnham will keep the true traditions of Lancashire alive and I am happy to refer to him as a ‘Lancashire Mayor’.

On a political note, Mr Burnham’s success is partly down to his refusal to backstab his leader Jeremy Corbyn. Be warned Lisa Nandy and Yvonne Fovargue!

Michael Moulding

Ashton

health

Easier way to get info

I would like to tell your blind and partially sighted readers, perhaps through the local newspaper service, their family and carers, that they are now entitled to have their NHS and Social Care communications and information in a format they can read, for example, large print, Braille, audio or email. These documents could include appointment letters, test results or information about their health condition.

It is easy to request this. Write a letter to your GP practice, informing them of your preferred reading format and quoting the NHS Communication and Information Standard, SCCI 1605.

It is now mandatory for GPs, hospitals, dentists and pharmacies to record the preferred format of their blind and partially sighted patients and to have systems in place to do this by July 31.

Why should anyone have to have personal and confidential health information read to them by, at times, a complete stranger?

For more information about this or any issues affecting people living with sight loss, visit www.rnib.org.uk or contact the campaigns team on 020 7391 2123 or email [email protected].

Tony Jenkins

RNIB Volunteer Campaign Assistant, North West England

society

It’s a false economy

The last time a government created jobs was 1939 to 1945, when Britain declared war on Germany after they invaded Poland.

There were land girls, Bevin boys, women of steel, but when it was all over they weren’t needed any more and it was back to the same old, same old of unemployment and low pay.

Nationalisation stabilised the country, with profits going back into the system, but we have been thriving on a false economy for years, making politicians look good.

G Ellison via email