Readers' letters - November 14

Re: the recent flurry of alleged accusations against MPs, Hollywood stars and media moguls, a young British actor and now past and present staff at the BBC.

While there may be evidence to initiate a 
criminal prosecution in at least one US case, by and large, the rest remain unsubstantiated.

Yet individuals are being witch-hunted into resigning their posts, being dropped and air-brushed out of films on the basis of allegations, trial by social media juries and holier-than-thou sections of a liberal society, which is ironic as a few of those were once seen as darlings of said liberal society.

What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

And when was it judged better for victims of abuse to turn to the media rather than the police to get justice?

D T

via email

The elephant in the polluted room

Re: pollution. All very well to moan about the effects of cars, but there are zero new solutions as usual.

Well, here’s a suggestion from me. Stop buying online goods. Every item you buy on the internet –because you can’t be bothered visiting a real shop and keeping real jobs – needs delivering.

Every single book or baby-gro means a diesel-powered van is driving around to deliver. Every time you feel like curling up on the sofa and clicking the mouse for groceries, you’ve got another diesel van clogging up the roads.

Feel you work too hard in the office to collect a bottle of wine? No problem, a three-litre diesel, weighing three tons, will bring it to you.

And cyclists are just as guilty of being Amazon addicts as those who drive old diesel cars every day.

Don’t demonise the drivers who can only afford a 15-year-old family car to commute 20 miles when your shopping habits are worse for the environment.

Oh, and school pupils being dispersed miles outside their catchment areas in the interests of “fairness”. How are they supposed to get there without diesel- powered transport?

Wouldn’t it be better if every child was within walking distance of the school they were placed at? Don’t get me started! Oh, and I’m a commuter cyclist of 30 years.

Tony Abdy

Address supplied

Spend money on police resources

It’s no surprise that attacks on our overworked emergency services are becoming more and more common.

We have a growing population, an increase in shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, all forms of serious crime.

Less and less money is spent each year on our police force, they have less resources in manpower and technology than ever before. So it is inevitable that the lawless elements are increasing and taking advantage of this.

We elect people to represent us, to spend our taxes wisely, to give us the best possible public services.

But I’m afraid it isn’t happening, we are now no longer safe on our streets. When our emergency services are being attacked on a regular basis, it is time we demand of the people we have elected to give us a police force which can protect us and the rest of the emergency services.

Dennis

via email