Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

Once upon a time, in a village far, far away, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would pay £1 for every monkey they could provide.

The villagers, knowing that there were plenty of monkeys around, went into the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands of monkeys at £1 apiece and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers began to lose interest in catching them in the first place.

So the man said he would double the payment, and the delighted villagers renewed their efforts.

But soon the supply of monkeys dwindled, and people gave up trying to catch them.

Desperate, the man raised the payment to £5 a monkey and, for a little while, people again tried to catch monkeys, but the supply had dwindled to nothing and they gave up altogether.

He then announced that he would raise the payment to £25 a monkey, but as he would be going away on a trip, his assistant would do the buying for him.

When the man had gone, his assistant assembled the villagers and, pointing to the cage containing all the monkeys that his boss had bought, said: “Look at all the monkeys. I will sell them to you at £10 and when the boss returns from the city, you can sell them to him for £25 and make a lot of money!”

The villagers gathered together all their savings and bought the monkeys from the assistant.

Then they waited for the man to return from his trip - but they never saw the man, or indeed his assistant, again.

And that, my friends, is how the stock market works!

Robert Readman
Bournemouth

But they are ‘real’ values on the day Robert. You can cash them in at any time. Unlike with property values. . That’s why the ‘Gold Standard’ created sound money. . As Vince Cable says; they are now planning to nationalise banking risk, but let them retain their corporate profit. . What you didn’t tell everybody was that one day an American came to the village. He offered £2.50 for each monkey, most of which the village Blacksmith had already bought for £1 each. And then he sold them to the Chinese for £100 each, because since the rice harvest failed they’ve been eating a lot more meat. The Blacksmith now drives a Rolls Royce and the American rules the world. . . But watch out for those Chinese!

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . . Features/Letters

We write in response to your front page article, ” ‘Don’t care’ homes for the elderly” (Western Daily Press, May 16).

We are disappointed the Western Daily Press chose to present the story in a negative and alarmist manner.

You stated 12 per cent of services in the West have been awarded zero stars (poor), one star (adequate), or have a suspended rating, but surely this implies the vast majority of services (88 per cent) must have ratings of two stars (good) or three stars (excellent)?

For older and vulnerable people and their families, asking for help either in a residential care home or through care in their own home, is a huge and often distressing decision.

To compound this with fear that the service may be of poor quality makes a difficult choice almost unbearable.

We wish to reassure readers that a service can be classed as poor or adequate for any number of reasons, and that it does not mean that clients using the service are at risk of abuse.

We further wish to note that responsible care providers welcome the quality rating initiative, which aims to promote improvements in social care and the protection of vulnerable people.

Alyson Martin
Registered Care Providers Association
Taunton

What I find disturbing is the way the care home operators from Glastonbury have had their lives and reputations completely destroyed after an inspection by the ‘Commission for Social Care Inspection’. . The police were notified and bodies were exhumed, but there was obviously no evidence found. . . We seem to be moving towards a system of ‘Guilty until you prove your innocence if we say so’. . All that was achieved was a tremendous amount of upset just because someone had ’serious concerns’ though no complaints had apparently been made.

The Saga continues. . . It just gets curiouser and curiouser!

Though in no way connected to the ‘above’; when we see how Gerry and Kate McCann have been treated since the disappearance of Madeleine; and how the truly criminal seem to escape any punishment, or at least have their sentences continually reduced; it seems it is now only the law-abiding that are so easily targeted for the purpose of producing the right ’statistics’, that now run any risk of prosecution.

Charles Henry

Western Daily Press. . Your Say

HELEN Reid might as well have given her piece about spelling reform in her column Helen on Monday (Western Daily Press, September 15), the title, “Whi fonettics spelz trubble".

“Wot du yu make ov this kind ov speling?", she asks. Firstly, it is not ugly. She then asks: “Would regional accents mean that ‘up north was spelled ‘oop north’?” No, it wouldn’t.

Anglous (Anglo-American) is indeed a wonderful language. “Could great poetry ever be written in phonetic [reformed] spelling?” Of course it could. . cond. .

I don’t suppose you could see the point of Latin either Robert? . . Or quadratic equations. . And Log Tables? . . “Don’t be silly! . Who needed to go to the Moon anyway! . We’ve got computers and calculators an spell checkers now!". . . . I just hope all the lights don’t start going out.

Charles Henry

Why do these ‘experts’ feel the need to tinker with our language?
No, spelling does not need to change. People should be taught properly, and everyone should take responsibility to ensure their own usage of our wonderful, rich language.

K.Brown, Bristol, England

K Brown, u say ‘No, spelling does not need to change’ but giv no valid arguments in support of that stance.
I agree with u that all should ‘ensure their own usage of our wonderful, rich language’,
but how can some who don’t hav a good visual memory (for thats whats needed to be a ‘good speller’) achieve this goal?
Our spelling is not our language. It, with the alfabet, is an artificial tool for making possible ritten communication. How well it does that is the standard it should be judged by.
While alfabets work well in many languages, the English alphabets effectivness has been allowed to degenerate, so that it hinders, rather than helps, in lerning to reed and rite.
We need to update our spelling so mor of our children and theirs can fully enjoy ‘our wonderful, rich language’.

Allan, Christchurch, New Zealand

Our language is so wonderful because it is so RICH. . “Abounding in possessions : Wealthy : valuable : sumptuous : fertile, full of agreeable and natural qualities : affluent : productive, as a rich mine : costly : mighty : ruling : ample : of superior quality : luxurious : of great moral worth : highly seasoned or flavoured as rich pastry : bright as a colour : full of harmonious sounds, as a rich voice : full of beauty as a rich landscape : of vivid colour : extravagant, as a rich joke : enrich, to grow rich : Richen, to become rich or higher quality of any kind.” . . . U do wot u like Allan. . I think I will continue to enjoy our wonderful language. . “The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword.” . A metonymic adage coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.

PS. . I’ll lay a wager you get your dictionary out Allan, . . or of course just check on line. . Best .

Charles Henry

Charles, i hope we both can continue to enjoy all the richness of our language till our dying days.
We’v no argument over the language.
Its the spelling thats the problem.
Spelling is not the language. Its a man-made tool for helping us to record the language.
The language - words and their usage - is natural; spelling is artificial, and not handed down on tablets of stone from the mountain top. It can change, without affecting the language, other than making the ritten language available to mor peeple. That would be a worthy aim..
I too enjoy the language, but like a lot of others, i dont enjoy its spelling, which, to put it simply, is inefficient.

Allan, Christchurch, New Zealand

I see where you are coming from of course Allen. . But the rules and the spelling are part of the joy of learning and discovering are they not? (And I for one still have a great deal to discover, and will probably never learn.) . . They reflect its immensity and what has set us apart from the world. . And why perhaps it is a leading language in both verse and song. . . To do as you would wish would be to condemn the masses to mediocrity for ever more I feel. . . A great deal has already been lost in everyday parlance. . Maybe it’s because of television. . . Our words should always draw pictures in other’s minds I feel. . . Do we really wish to be reduced to grunting? . Our behaviour is about our teaching and learning. . Bad behaviour is surely about our failure to teach properly and others to learn. . . . Good speech is just being replaced with four letter adjectives. . Do you want to send writing the same way?

Charles Henry

I hav a retired teecher acquaintance who would get very angry over your comment about spelling rules being ‘part of the joy of lerning’. He just cannot spell. Because of the embarrassment it caused him as a pupil, in his job (where he devised intricate ploys to hide his disability from his pupils), and in his social life, he gets irate when peeple tell him current spelling is okay, let alone a joy!
Regarding ‘verse and song’: Does the spelling of the words make enny difference to the rhythm, rime, or meening of the composition. A rose by enny other spelling (roze?) would smell as sweet! Would ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ be different if it was ‘The Rhyme …’?
Is speech governd by spelling? Speech and riting ar the two ways we express the language. The language and speech ar natural, and evolve. The alfabet and spelling ar not natural; they ar artificial creations by humans. They can be made to change.
Spelling should change to do its job - ritten communication - properly. Hanging on to old dysfunctional spellings because they ar cute, historical, or eccentric is like retaining steem railway locomotivs insted of replacing them with mor efficient electric or deesel engins for the sake of trainspotters and others who enjoy the display of plumes of polluting smoke and steem! Beauty and nostalgia ar fine, provided the basic tasks ar being acheevd. So with spelling.

Allan, Christchurch, New Zealand

Hopefully your teacher friend was teaching maths not English Language Allan. . I see you spelt the following words correctly rather than in the quaint ‘vernacular’. . Acquaintance, embarrassment,
communication, eccentric, Rhyme, polluting, dysfunctional, efficient; not really recognising why I used the word ‘metonymic’. . Words have derivatives from Latin, Greek and a host of sources and where this ‘vernacular’ has is uses in ‘chav-land’, it really would really be silly in the wider language and not help our understanding I believe. . You will see if you look at “View from a Shop Doorway.” in my website that I have previously given this subject considerable thought. . Best

Charles Henry

He was a primary teecher, a GP! Your comment skirts the fact that lerning literacy isnt a joy for all, even those with a vested interest in lerning it! That is the fact that needs to be faced. A lot of our kids face it on a regular basis, and for menny its just too much and a turn-off. They giv literacy away. Not reelly what u want, I think.
I could hav ritten much mor of my reply in improved spelling, but I am not into making my message difficult for my reeders, who ar not used to changed spellings, except perhaps in texting. Enny change in our spellng wil hav to be gradual, so we can becum accustomd to it slowly. And, in my vew, it wil need to be compatible both ways with traditional spelling (TS).
How menny peeple worry about derivations when talking and riting? I don’t. I mite when I am discussing language. Aficionados such as yourself may enjoy such pastimes, and good on u, but like maths enthusiasts or stamp collectors, u can stilll enjoy the hobby while the rest of us will just get on with communicating, which is what the alfabet and spelling ar desined to facilitate.

Allan, Christchurch, New Zealand

I would be interested in what age you are Allan. . You give the appearance of being a product of the latter part of the 20th.Century’s failure in teaching. . Of course you may just be dyslexic, which would not be a good reason to change things for the majority who fortunately are not. . Texting is not a tool for learning. It is just a shorthand for communication, like a nod or a wink. . Language has developed over thousands of years and what you suggest would take another thousand, and to no good end in my view. . Meanwhile both learning and teaching is ‘going to pot’ to use the vernacular. . Derivations may not matter in the first spoken English we (are supposed to) learn in the home, but when going forward into serious learning it is immensely important I believe. . My biggest regret is not ever having the great formal education of some of my friends.

Charles Henry

I’m approaching octogenarian status, and am a product of the erlier part of 20th century failure in teeching, the ’sit up and shut up’ variety. As far as I know, i am not dyslexic!
Texting is a great example of a spelling that is desined to accomplish its object: to fit a resonable message into a 160-caracter limit. In a way, a successor of telegrafees.
U do not giv enny reeson why upgrading our spelling so it also would accomplish its object would B to ‘no good end’.
There has always been a long tail of illiterate students and adults. In the past there wer jobs for those who failed to master the skill. Nowadays menny of those jobs hav gon, and we ar noticing the lack of literacy competence.
Teeching going to pot? I wish I’d been taut in the modern way. Teechers hav always had to use an inefficient tool when teeching literacy. They hav dun wunders, considering that fact. Why shouldn’t they, and parents, hav an up-to-date sharp tool so they can do the job eeven better?

Allan, Christchurch, New Zealand

I must congratulate you on your perspicacity for one so senior Allan, but maybe the reason you have it in such abundance is because of the ’sit up and shut up teaching’ you are now clearly so disdainful of. . Where I believe your idea fails is that you will obviously eventually end up with the same conflict of spelling as you expand your new dictionary. . Or will you just abandon correct spelling altogether as long as a similar sounding speech is uttered?.
There would also be problems where there is a different dialect, certainly in this country. . If writing is to be meaningful there will always have to be little rules to learn. . 2, two, too, to if we are to avoid confusion I feel. . Are you sure you are not just mistakenly hoping people can eventually avoid the discipline of teaching and learning altogether? . I wonder what Aristotle would have made of all this?

You should check out my ‘Doorway Dictionary’ Allan. . You may be fascinated, if not totally confused.

Charles Henry

I found your Doorway dictionary interesting rather than confusing.
‘So senior’? There ar stil quite a few older than I am!
I would hav had mor ‘get up and go’ and creativity without the kind of teeching I had.
‘Same conflict of spelling’? I’m not sure which conflict u refer to. if u meen incorrect standard spelling, i would expect much less of it with a new standard that was regular, logical, and eesily followed. Correct spelling could be the norm!
‘2, two,. to, too’: How do u avoid confusion with these in speech?
We hav updated our currencies. As a teecher at the time of our change, i calculated that it saved me about a year and a half’s teeching of money calculations. We didn’t avoid teeching and lerning; we just made it simpler, logical, and much mor sensible. I miss the eccentricity of Lsd only when I think about it, which isnt often. And then I feel so glad we got rid of it all. That would be my reaction to TS after it had been similarly upgraded.

Allan, Christchurch, New Zealand

Good speech with clear intonation is always what has been desired surely Allan. . My parents always told me, to stand up straight, put my shoulders back, say please and thank you and to speak properly. . I think ‘don’t scuff your feet’ was another regular instruction. . Of course we did have to do far more walking in those days. . I am not really clear if you would spell confrontation; confruntation or confruntashun. Probably the latter. . But I’m sure there would be no confusion with ‘Do you want a slap?’ however it was spelt. .

In this age of the computer, converting the £(pound sterling) to the logic of decimal currency, though not welcomed by many, was far easier to achieve and some would say necessary, than what you are suggesting now with spelling and the enormous world wide archive of ‘words’ there is Allan. . Best Charles

Charles Henry

SPREADING EVEN MORE FEAR! .

What A disgraceful display from the Deputy Labour Leader, Harriet Harman on BBC ‘Question Time’.

She accused SARAH PALIN, republican John McCain’s running mate in the coming American Presidential Election, of being a WAR MONGER! . .

SARAH PALIN is the Governor of the last frontier state of America, Alaska; now famous for her ‘Hockey Mum’ , ‘No lipstick’ and ‘Pit Bull’ jibe to the Democrats. . She is certainly no ones ‘pushover’, but to call her a war monger was disgraceful. . . Harriet Harman should now resign.

Members of the British government were visibly shaking when Ex President; now Prime Minister Putin, dressed in camouflage garb with the cameras rolling to shoot a Tiger with a tranquilliser gun to sedate it. . Yet no mention was ever made of this stunt on the program last evening.

Charles Henry

Gordon Brown comes under even more pressure to hold a leadership election!


WHY, WHY, WHY? (click here)

There are now very many of us who believe Gordon Brown will turn out to be the most dangerous Chancellor this country has ever known. . . Of course; ‘It’s not all over until The Fat Lady Sings’ (as the saying goes); . . . but the idea that an inflated housing market; with people basing their pensions on others renting from them; rather than the stock market, commercial letting, or some other commercial venture is foolhardy in the extreme. . . . It will turn out to be ‘The Pyramid to end all Pyramids’ I believe. . . Hundreds of thousands of Britain’s young people have Gordon Brown to thank for destroying their hopes of ever owning their own homes. . . He should never have allowed it to get out of hand. . The cost of renting or buying a home should have been included in the inflation figure. .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Why do gipsies get special treatment?. W.D.Press

IN reply to your article, “Gipsy family fear more race attacks” (Western Daily Press, September 10th.), I am afraid that if legislators pass laws that give benefit to one group of people, and seek to apply a different set of laws to others, the result is very predicable. . cond..

The question we should be asking is, “Why do the Government, Council or anyone else think that someone should be allowed to build on; or park a caravan on, a piece of land others would not be allowed to; just because they call themselves ‘travellers’ and are possibly from Romany descent?”

The idea that the objections to this ‘permission’ were prompted by ‘Racism’ as originally suggested by this newspaper, was as absurd as it was nonsensical.

The behaviour of those who attacked this family was clearly illegal, highly reprehensible and offensive to all decent people. . But this New-Labour government and the ‘Liberal’ PC Brigade must take full responsibility for the state of affairs that has led to all the breaches of planning regulations and recent unhappy events across the West Country.

We now need a strong government with a clear sense of justice, who will finally put an end to this continual effrontery, and the affront of minorities who now seem determined to abuse this countries generosity, and our democracy.

Charles Henry

September 2008

Copyright by Charles Henry 2008

“SPLASH!". . . Well dat wer bleedin’ summer two fowsand an’ ate I spose. . . Roll on Crismus!

Western Daily Press. . . Your Say.

John Wells, Emeritus Professor at University College London, believes that spelling should be made simpler, apostrophes abolished and the language of the internet and text-messaging adopted.

If that isn’t dumbing down, I don’t know what is!

According to Professor Wells, even bright A-level students have problems with spelling! . Well, they can’t be all that bright, can they?

Quite apart from anything else, the professor’s (note the apostrophe) proposals rather make a mockery of the claim that education standards are rising year on year and that this year’s (there’s that damned apostrophe again) A-level candidates achieved a 97 per cent pass rate.

The professor’s assertion that: “Text messaging, email, and internet chatrooms are showing us the way forward for English", is totally bonkers.

Why not go the whole hog and do away with teaching English altogether?

Robert Readman, Bournemouth

We all know this Labour government have made a mockery of examinations Robert. . They have greatly speeded up the dumbing down process that was already in progress, hoping we would all be suitably impressed. . . Even those who previously thought of themselves as just ‘average Joes’ now realise they are really ‘geniuses’. . . Our care homes are now bursting with literary talent; all be it a bit forgetful now; and are soon all to be turned into Academies! . . The residents are of course wise enough to be very wary of the Doctor who has to carry a calculator and a laptop with him on his rounds.

What also annoys me Robert, is how the BBC has corrupted good phonic spoken English, and has stopped the well-spoken presenters using the pronunciation ‘THEE’ when ‘THE’ prefaces a word beginning with a vowel or a vowel sound. . It is almost as if the BEEB is now leading the way in the dumbing down the English language. . And they’ve got the cheek to criticise the Yanks!

If you could hear yourself ‘Errol’. . You wouldn’t speak like that! . .

. . Then again, maybe you would. .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

The Editor
Letters
Western Daily Press

Published 8th. September 2008

Dear Editor,

We’ve had a week when Russian President Putin; I’m sorry I should now say ‘Prime Minister Putin’; put on his camouflage to fire his big tranquilliser gun at a tiger. . The cameras were rolling and the world ‘visibly’ trembled. . How desperately we need a ‘Maggie Thatcher’ facing him off in Europe right now I thought.

Then suddenly out of the blue John McCain introduced his running mate for the forthcoming election for President. . ‘Wow!’ . I thought, . . ‘What a Pitbull!’. . . The fight is on! . They have an ‘Iron Lady’ of their own at last, and a future President of America without any doubt.

Yours

Charles Henry

LEWIS HAMILTON DEMOTED FROM 1st to 3rd.

F.I.A. IS NOW GUILTY OF BLATANT RACISM.

FERRARI CAN DO NO WRONG IT SEEMS! . .

THEY MUST NOT LOSE! . .

THEY MUST ALWAYS BE GIVEN AN ADVANTAGE!

IT IS TIME TO BOYCOTT THIS SO-CALLED

. . . .’SPORT’.

HAMILTON WAS THE CLEAR WINNER WHO AVOIDED A DANGEROUS COLLISION AND PLAYED BY THE RULES. . ALL SELF RESPECTING DRIVERS SHOULD NOW ALSO BOYCOTT ALL PROCEEDINGS UNTIL THIS DECISION IS REVERSED

How right you are ‘Errol’. . . I shall certainly not waste any more of my time watching this so-called Motor-’Sport’. . .

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

A veterinary nurse is receiving treatment after contracting the bovine TB respiratory infection.

The results of an investigation into the case were expected to be published later in the year, said a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

A dog belonging to the woman, from Cornwall, also contracted the disease.

NFU South West spokesman Ian Johnson said on Monday it was known there was the potential for the disease to spread from one species to another, for example to dog and cats who had access to badgers.

But he added: “People should not be alarmed in terms of their own safety.

“There is routine pasteurisation of milk, and there is no food chain-related transmission,” he said.

“The incidence of humans contracting bovine TB is incredibly small,” he said, adding that in the case of the veterinary nurse “we must assume she must have contracted it taking care of an infected animal".

“You will get these cases, but not in the general population who have no contact with badgers or cattle,” said Mr Johnson.

Defra said on Monday they were aware of a case of Mycobacterium bovis infection in a human patient in South West England, and the patient’s dog. The patient was receiving treatment.

“M. bovis is a recognised zoonotic agent and that is precisely why we have a compulsory bovine TB control programme in cattle.”

Oh well that’s all right then! . It’s only farmers and their families, and all those who have got badgers defecating and urinating everywhere around their gardens who need to worry!

. . Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity)

Last updated 7th. Sept. 2008

Since this letter was first published in the Western Daily Press on the 19th. August , . . Three (3) young people have died from fatal stabbings. . . May they Rest in Peace. . . . But hey, ‘Don’t get concerned! . . They’ve jailed a biker ‘THUG’ for driving at 130mph. and evading arrest. . It only took 17 Police vehicles and a Helicopter!

Charles Henry

Letter from Councillor Bryan Chalker. .
Western Daily Press

I am absolutely appalled at the derisory sentence handed out to the thug who rode his motorcycle at speeds of more than 130mph.

Christopher O’Donovan led a total of 17 police vehicles on a 23- mile chase through Wiltshire last December before finally being arrested at his home in Devizes.

Police said that they feared for O’Donovan’s safety but this criminal idiot’s life ought to have been the least of their worries.

I am more concerned that this individual was already banned from driving when he chose to ride his Kawasaki ZX600 at speeds topping out at 133mph and was a lethal threat to other road users and the countless police officers involved in the chase.

At the end of this pathetic exercise, O’Donovan is handed a 15 month prison sentence by Swindon Crown Court ; he’ll probably serve only half of that ; and disqualified from driving for three years. Well, that’ll put him in his place, then. What ought to have happened is a five-year sentence (without parole) and a life ban for this useless example of humanity.

In my view, Christopher O’Donovan is a violent criminal without any regard for others and should be dealt with harshly. Sadly, this country has gone soft on oiks like him and I dread to think what might have happened had this lunatic been in collision with a pedestrian or other vehicle.

Why do we allow such powerful machines on our roads? This particular model is said to be capable of speeds of up to 170mph. Why? I hope O’Donovan has a hard time throughout his insultingly brief period of incarceration.

Cllr Bryan Chalker, Bath

How does riding a motorcycle at speed make a person a thug, This letter is so over the top it is typical of a person who is so out of touch with the world today, Cllr Chalker thank god you are not a JP, This was a motoring offence, He did not plunge a knife into someone, he did not rape or assault anyone, in fact as far as I am aware no one was injured at all, Well Cllr I am appalled at your weird sense of priorities.

P. Wynn, Burnham on sea

Well said P.Wynn. . There is a politically correct sickness out there; and it’s destroying this country! . . The guys who can ride these machines at speed in all the Motor sports; Speedway and Motor GP, are always the soundest people. . Always the very best that any father or mother would be proud to have as a son or siblings as a brother. . . Get a life Councillor Chalker. . Meet some real men who don’t need knives to show what they are made of.

Charles Henry

Public highways are not racetracks. Anyone that drives at reckless speeds on these roads is a menace to other road users.

Mike, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

Statistically they are a far greater danger to themselves Mike. . Bikers particularly, have a far greater awareness of road dangers. . They may be being reckless, but they are certainly not criminals. (The vast majority). More motorcyclists get killed by other motorists than other motorists get killed by motorcyclists. . You all keep well in Nova Scotia!

Charles Henry

Messrs. Wynn and Henry, the motorcyclist in question was banned from driving when he rode his machine at speeds in excess of 130mph; hardly the action of a responsible individual. I have the utmost respect for motorcyclists in general, but not those who flout the law as seriously as O’Donovan.

Bryan Chalker

Cllr Chalker the offence was a civil one and speeding offences, no matter how stupid, are not criminal offences - unless someone is killed or injured. Too much over-government in this country and where the law is applied the magistrates regularly bring it into disrepute by being too soft.

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough

Bryan, you could be better employed. . Trust me!!!!! . . 130mph does something to you does it?

Charles Henry

Dear Charles, I have just had $4,545.00 worth of repairs to one of my cars after having been rear-ended by a fool on a motor bike while I was stopped at a red traffic light. Result of police accident investigation: biker travelling at high speed and not paying attention.

Mike, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

You people seem to be missing the point. We are talking here about a d-i-s-q-u-a-l-i-f-i-e-d driver; ergo, no insurance or Road Tax ; and a suspended licence. This is a criminal offence, not a trivial speeding ticket. Furthermore, I do not have a problem with 130mph - just this irresponsible jerk. That’s it!

Bryan Chalker

Get a life Councillor Chalker?. . . No! No! No! Possibly take a life. . Banned, uninsured, non taxed, 130mph, irresponsible moron. You supporters of this burks action should be ashamed. He could so easilly have maimed or killed one of your close loved ones. Would you then accuse Bryan Chalker of being ‘out of touch’ and in ‘need of getting a life’?

Dave, Bath

Mike, sorry about your car. . But you are missing the point. . I’ve had a virtually new £20,000 car stolen and burnt out myself. . I sympathise. . But no one was ever arrested. . . If you were aware of the REAL crime that is going on in the UK, and the weekly deaths of young people; in a society where we have to LOCK, BOLT and GUARD literally EVERYTHING for fear of it being stolen; you too would be questioning priorities. . This country would be a really wonderful place to live if all we had to worry about was a few unlicensed, untaxed, uninsured bikers. . Just how many police vehicles were required to apprehend him? . . 27!? . I assumed he was a murderer or rapist who had escaped from an open prison!

Charles Henry

Just couple of points to add. Colin, your knowledge of matters European are second to none, for which you have always received my admiration. But your grasp of criminal law may be a little suspect. Mr Henry. I am a little confused with your postings. You support an individual who has clearly broken the law, albeit in your mind trivially, but to me and many others, seriously. Then you complain bitterly about your own sad experience, for which I sympathize, going on further to deplore the general criminal breakdown of our society. You cannot have it both ways. The law is the law. Break it and you deserve the consequences. You are also getting a little confused about political correctness. This has been a cancer eating at our fabric of lifestyle since its inception by those open toe sandal, lentil eating lefties and liberals from the seventies and eighties. Support an idiot illegally driving an uninsured machine at 130mph and you just condone PC.

Dave, Bath>

I don’t condone him Dave. . But let’s just get ‘Back to Basics’ and get our priorities right. . . People are being virtually ‘let off’ for all sorts of real ‘criminality’. . They no longer even treat ’shop-lifting’ as a crime. . It’s STEALING! . . We all know what needs to be done, but no-one has got the xxxxx to back the politicians who do try and change things. . The helicopter followed the biker home. He could have been picked up at any subsequent time, and he wouldn’t have resisted arrest. . You could have telephoned him at home, asked him to report to a Police Station of his choice and bring a packed bag.

Charles Henry

Sadly Mr Henry what you have just highlighted in general terms is the malaise to which our once great nation has sunk. It isn’t about some plonker riding a bike at excessive speed whilst disqualified. It’s much more fundamental. You worry that you have to secure your treasured possessions. No doubt, like me you get frustrated at anti-social behaviour such as fly tipping, not being able to walk the streets at night for fear of being mugged, lager louts, both male and female turning our city centres into battle grounds on Saturday nights. etc. etc. etc. Then you suggest it is because we the electorate do not possess the guts to back those politicians that wish do do something about the decline of our moral standards. Who are these politicians? I’ve yet to discover one brave enough to say ‘enough is enough’ let alone do anything constructive. Maybe you know different. My political recollection of the last twenty odd years is of one M.Thatcher selling off most of the family jewels without forethought of the long term consequences (the result of which is coming home to roost now with all our private utilities ramming massive price hikes down our throats) and then Messrs Blair and Brown ignoring their manifesto promises, telling lies about Sadam’s weapon store, and buttering up to the financial institutions to the point where much of our gold reserve has disappeared and most of the corrupt banking fraternity have run off with vast quantities of pound notes to their little hideaways in the Cayman Islands. In other words we now reside in a financially bankrupt country with a bankrupt social fabric. Politicians are very much like estate agents and weather forecasters. When their lips move you can never be certain it’s the truth.

Dave, Bath

We will never all agree Dave, but I’m from old-fashioned ’stock’. I was brought up with basic good manners; to speak properly, and I was taught right from wrong; particularly what the word ‘no’ meant; . my children the same. . Mrs Thatcher took charge when this country was in a fine mess, but they chucked her out before she’d finished the job. . I always believed if Mrs Thatcher couldn’t sort things out; no-one could. . “Please God, let someone soon prove me wrong.”

Charles Henry

Cllr Chalker, I missed the point about the riders disqualification. I’m with you, sentence was too lenient.

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough

I would partially agree Colin, but the primary comment was, . “How does riding a motorcycle at speed make a person a thug? This letter is so over the top it is typical of a person who is so out of touch with the world today, Cllr Chalker thank God you are not a JP.”

Many vehicles are being driven by disqualified, uninsured people, often when being used in pursuit ‘criminal activity’. . The chase could maybe then be justified. . Apparently the biker was not. . He realised he had been ‘caught’ speeding and decided he had better get home to bed ‘quick’. . A good lawyer would have argued that perhaps it was the police who actually precipitated the most dangerous situation. . No?

Charles Henry

No Charles, Evading/resisting arrest is in itself a criminal activity. He moved from a civil offence to a criminal offence when he was banned from riding and continued so to do. The police have many short comings but not to have pursued would have been neglect of duty. The Magistrates are currently too lenient in so many areas - as are some judges, and by being so undermine the police and the law.

Colin McNamee, Baltonsborough

But they DID Colin! . They sent out the helicopter at great public expense. . Job done! . . Follow him home. . Arrest him at their convenience. . Put him before the court. . Jail him. . . He was still not a ‘Thug’. . People are being given far less, and being let out sooner for far worse as was first pointed out. . . Also Colin; I wonder if they knew he was disqualified when they first ‘clocked him’. . I suspect not. . . That would explain everything. . .The alternative scenario would have been, his eventual arrest for all his offences, but without the dangerous ‘chase’.

Charles Henry

Charles, I am still a tad bemused. Whilst you so obviously share the same moralistic values, that I, and hopefully the majority of our generation hold so dear, how can you defend the indefensible. He broke the law. aether the police reaction was too heavy handed or not, whether a helicopter was needed or not, whether the police new he was disqualified or not are merely incidentals. As are your comments that he should have been allowed to get home, then give him a polite telephone call and ask him to pop into the nearest police station and hand himself in. Yeh right! What might be more relevant is “how long is his police record’? I’ll lay money on it being a long ‘un. So, come on Charles, you so obviously revere Mrs Thatcher. Do you seriously think she would have taken the same stance as your good self?

Dave, Bath

Dave, you can bang him up for as long as you like. I’m not really that fussed; that is as long as we can ALSO treat the remaining criminal fraternity in the same way. . . But you had better start building an awful lot more prison places. . 2 or 3 times more than we have now! . . . Wait a minute though! . . I thought all the liberal-luvvies have been telling us PRISON DOESN’T WORK!! . . No of course it doesn’t. . Except for Lester Piggot, Tory MPs and Bikers eh!! . Bring it on Dave. . There’s mileage in this argument yet. . And we haven’t even started talking about chopping off hands!!

Charles Henry

What a big pity a large artic didn’t pull out from a side turning when he was 50 yards away. Would have saved alot of Court time, and Prison time, and it would have given an undertaker something to do. I have no time for idiots like him, he deserved 5 years.

Stan Still, UK

Yes, but you are just a nasty bigoted sadist Stan. . Whereas most people want justice and fairness. . Statistically bikers are a far greater danger to themselves. Bikers particularly, have a far greater awareness of road dangers.. They may be being reckless, but they are certainly not criminals. . More motorcyclists get killed by other motorists than other motorists get killed by motorcyclists.

Charles Henry

. . cond. .