Readers' letters - February 28

For more letters: https://www.wigantoday.net/news/your-say/readers-letters-february-21-1-9033531

The right wing newspapers have whipped themselves up into a frenzy over unfounded allegations that the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, gave information to a spy from Stalinist Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. The aim of the right wing media is obvious. They hope to push back the growing popularity of Corbyn and support for his policies.The smears directed at Corbyn are nothing new. It’s just business as usual, as far as the right wing press and establishment are concerned.The Daily Mail, for example, published the Zinoviev Letter four days before the 1924 general election. It was a forgery that said Russia was planning Communist subversion if Labour was re-elected.In the 1970s, MI5 ran a propaganda campaign, known as Clockwork Orange, to smear Irish Republicans and the Labour Party. It forged Labour leaflets and pamphlets, some calling for revolution.And in 1980, Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday Times ran a false story claiming Labour leader Michael Foot was a Russian spy.The right wing press don’t care if what they print isn’t the truth. They are throwing dirt because they feel threatened by the prospect of a radical Labour government and the growing support for progressive left wing ideas.Mick Mulcahyvia emailBeating heart disease for goodThere is a lot to be proud of since we were founded in 1961. Seven in ten people now survive a heart attack. The idea of heart transplants is now a reality and the majority of babies born with congenital heart conditions now live on to adulthood.We want to say thank you to everyone who has donated to the BHF over the years – your money has helped to make these breakthroughs and save millions of lives. We simply wouldn’t have come so far if it wasn’t for your generosity.But unfortunately, heart disease and circulatory disease isn’t a done deal. In North West England alone, an estimated 850,000 people are living with cardiovascular disease, and every year around 17,750 people die from these conditions. Heart and circulatory disease still devastates thousands of families every year and is the cause of more than a quarter of all deaths in the UK. Our fight isn’t over yet.Up and down the nation, thousands of scientists are making it their mission to keep more families together. As you read this letter, we are one step closer to finding a cure for heart failure, pioneering new methods of diagnosing inherited heart conditions and improving surgical procedures.But these projects will cease to exist without donations, as they aren’t government funded.By donating to the BHF, you will be helping around 1,000 research projects in over 50 locations to unlock the key to beating heart disease for good. To be a part of this exciting prospect, please visit www.bhf.org.uk/thankyouSimon GillespieChief Executive at the British Heart Foundation

Cancel university tuition fees

Even Theresa May now admits that students face one of the “most expensive systems of university tuition in the world”.Charging students for tuition fees has been a disaster. The Government still has to pay the money to universities. On the other hand, very many students won’t be able to pay off the thousands of pounds of debt.The problem lies in the principle of treating university education as a commodity, only for the benefit of the individual. Medical students are the doctors of tomorrow. Can we say their education is solely for individual gain?What students do with their education benefits everyone in society. Some end up earning good money and could pay a fair share of tax based on income, others contribute to society in other ways.The Labour Party should be ashamed of its decision to introduce tuition fees in 1998.The Green Party’s policy is to cancel tuition fees and write off outstanding student debt. We need to give our graduates a hope for the future and allow them to flourish, free of society’s debt.Martin PhippsGreen Party