Dear Editor, How cynical and yet ever so typical of this Labour Government in their announcement that they are considering changing the laws in order to get through what they want!
They have adopted this stance more and more often throughout their dismal tenure in government - Europe being the prime example.
The people of Birmingham had every opportunity to petition for an elected mayor via the campaign led by the Birmingham Mail but the people of Birmingham decided that they did not want or need one.
So yet again this overbearing Labour Government has decided that the people of Birmingham don't know what's good for them and decide to look at ways of forcing the will of London on our City.
This is the same Government that has continually shunned our great City in favour of places South of Watford eg the Dome, the National Stadium etc etc so why oh why should we believe them now when they say it would be good for our area?
London may need an Elected Mayor to act as a figurehead for the numerous councils within its boundaries but we have one democratically elected council running one of the largest authorities in Europe. Our democracy is based on the ballot box with the ruling party choosing a leader. This is the way Parliament works as well. Are we therefore to adopt a similar method in Westminster whereby regardless of which party wins the General Election we then have to hold an election for a President?
Is this Labour's hidden agenda? I am also disappointed that some Conservative MPs appear to go along with the idea of an enforced elected Mayor. It was a great result for Boris, a great result for London BUT it is not needed in Birmingham.
It would be nothing more than another expensive layer of bureaucracy, employing lots of people being paid for from the pockets of the already hard pressed residents of Birmingham. This Labour government continues to treat all of us with a level of contempt that beggars belief. I am sure everyone believes its time they will let us have a democratic vote on their performance but I don't suppose they are interested in that sort of democracy.
Coun Ken Wood,
Longbridge.
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Birmingham - where the streets are paved with bins
Dear Editor, Regarding the Labour councilors demand for wheelie bins to step up recycling (Post, July 9),one wonders whether Coun Kath Hartley and her colleagues are totally bereft of any aesthetic values.
Wheelie bins are a cumbersome visual atrocity that look awful decorating residential streets. Expecting home owners to find room to hide these eyesores is a bit much.
Birmingham has many streets of terraced houses providing pleasant homes. Where do you put a wheelie bin if you live in a terraced house? Do we really want to see these roads scarred by wheelie bins? Think also of the fun involved in trying to clean a wheelie bin when it reaches high stink level Birmingham's refuse collectors deserve high praise for the way they sweep through the city streets at high speed collecting plastic bags of rubbish and greenery. Would they prefer having to manhandle wheelie bins?
I suggest Coun Hartley and her colleagues treat themselves to an all-expenses paid trip to Liverpool, Europe's Capital of Culture, where they can see streets paved with purple wheelie bins.
Ross Reyburn,
Moseley.
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Heartfelt thanks for all your help
Dear Editor, I write to thank readers in Birmingham who supported the British Heart Foundation's (BHF) Help a Heart Campaign in June by generously donating either time or money to help us fund more heart research.
The aim of the Campaign was to raise £1.5m nationally for pioneering research into the causes, prevention and treatment of heart disease, and whilst money will continue to be remitted over the coming months, we are confident that the campaign has been a huge success.
As a charity in urgent need of funds, we rely on our supporters in the community to help generate the money we need to continue saving and improving the lives of people like Anne Rosello from Bartley Green, Birmingham.
Anne was diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis, which means the heart valve does not open fully and obstructs the flow of blood. She was informed that she had to have an Aortic Valve replacement and was treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The BHF is totally committed to preventing lives from being devastated by heart disease.
If you would like to support our life-saving work by volunteering, organising an event or giving a donation please call on 0121 353 2087.
Donna Stokes,
BHF Fundraising Volunteer Manager.
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Signatures from city's citizens can help change the world
Dear Editor , Over the last 2 months Oxfam campaigners in Birmingham have collected hundreds of people's wishes to end poverty. These wishes were for G8 leaders, meeting in Japan this week, to take urgent action now on global poverty. They called for more and better aid, stronger support for health systems and a strong climate deal to reduce carbon emissions and increase support for people suffering the effects of climate change.
This year's G8 is an outstanding example of where the campaigning actions of people in Birmingham and across the UK can make a difference for poor people around the world. Leaders argued late into the night but eventually the 1,000,000 wishes from the UK and around the world helped to swing some of the decisions for development. One topic on which debate was fraught was the decision to restate the promise of an extra $50billion in aid by 2010. This headline grabbing promise is an important one; but promises only matter if they are kept and this promise has a history of being broken; aid last year from rich countries went down for the second year in a row.
The G8 has made other grand promises, for example: to halve carbon emissions by 2050; and to fund health services to the tune of $60billion. However, these promises are not as groundbreaking as they sound.
A 'vision of achieving' a 50 percent cut in carbon emissions is in no way a definite target. By 2050 the world will be cooked and the G8 a distant memory -we need binding short and medium term targets for emissions.
After much debate leaders agreed to a five-year term for delivering the $60 billion for health services - this is in fact a reduction from the current levels of funding of around $15 billion per year.
People power is incredibly important both for setting the agenda, as we have now done, and for holding those who govern us to account for the promises they have made.
Working together we have already and can continue to make a difference.
Will Tucker,
Campaigner for Oxfam Midlands G8 leaders pose at the Windsor Hotel in Toyako, Japan.
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Politicians must learn to live within their means
Dear Editor, With the exception of journalists there has hardly been 'a rush to find dishonesty in politics' as your editorial complacently claims (Post, July 9).
Over the past year 300,000 pensioners and parents of 100,000 children have slipped below the poverty line. Try to explain to them that the Tory 'sleaze buster' and Leader of their European group paid £445,000 worth of staff allowances into his map-making company.
Explain how MPs like Derek Conway paid his relatives for little or no work and some will realise that the phrase "Conway family values" is more an anagram for 'Foul, evil, scam anyway' rather than a cause to vote for.
No one can be impressed when North West MEP Sir Robert Atkins bills taxpayers for flights to his son's wedding in the USA and tries to reassure people that his junket was to campaign for Republicans in mid term elections. Since when was that sane, never mind honest?
If Caroline Spelman MP diverts Parliamentary allowances to save housekeeping costs by employing a nanny then shouldn't she pay it back and with interest?
You report that Nick Clegg is spot checking some of his MPs but seem to be a little casual that a majority of those in other parties have voted their shroud of secrecy to cover their own financial affairs.
If politicians cannot sustain extravagant lifestyles without plundering public expenses perhaps they might prove their talents by resigning and taking up money-making opportunities in the private sector?
Steve Kirkham,
By Email.
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Be healthy, save the NHS
Dear Editor We have been hearing a great deal lately about the NHS, and the rising costs etc, and for some time now I have felt very strongly that the people who abuse their bodies and then (by over eating, over drinking, smoking and drug taking) should pay towards their health care. If this were the case, there would then be plenty of money made available for the genuinely ill and the drugs that they need. We might also find that it helps people towards a more healthy lifestyle.
Annette Drake,
Tanworth-in-Arden Warwickshire.
