Friday's Letters: Merger would strengthen building society

While I understand that the Lloyds/HBOS merger stands as a warning to any financial institution contemplating a merger, I do not believe that the comparison is valid in this instance and the circumstances of this merger are very different. Although Chelsea has had some difficulties, they are not on the scale of those suffered by HBOS which was clearly holed below the waterline. Indeed, Chelsea could carry on as an independent business, albeit with some major changes.

As our members would expect of us, we have carried out very extensive due diligence on the Chelsea over a number of months, and we have taken steps to strengthen the capital position of the combined society (capital is the money we hold as protection against unexpected losses), so that the merged society would start life with capital ratios among the highest of any major UK lender, bank or building society.

The traditional elements of Chelsea's operations fit very well with the Yorkshire's – they are strong in areas where we are less well represented and vice versa – and we will be able to make significant cost savings by absorbing the majority of their head office activities into our Bradford operations. This will strengthen both our market positioning and our ability to deliver value to our current and future members.

I agree completely with Mr Hodgson's view that the demutualisations have been disastrous and we remain committed to mutuality and to our Yorkshire base. The merger will give us important economies of scale but it will not make us too big to offer the personal service which we pride ourselves on.

Finally, I would wish to assure Mr Hodgson that my own ambitions are solely for the success of the Yorkshire and what we do for our members, and I will not be receiving a bonus or any other additional

remuneration in relation to the merger.

From: Iain Cornish, chief executive, Yorkshire Building Society.

Doubts over TV presenters and prejudice

From: JG Riseley, Harcourt Drive, Harrogate

Harriet Harman endorsing the complaint of BBC sexism-ageism does nothing to persuade me that it has substance (Yorkshire Post, January 4).

When Anna Ford, as a relative youth, began presenting Open University programmes, did she worry about what more experienced talent she was elbowing aside?

There has been no suggestion of any shift in the balance between male and female presenters. On this issue these are two essentially separate areas of competition.

Within each sphere, there is a three-way trade-off to be made. How young can you start the job? How old can you carry on to? How many people get a shot at it?

The way these are resolved will benefit or disadvantage particular individuals. But different resolutions being found on the male and

female sides does not give the men in general an advantage at the expense of the women, or vice versa.

The failure to recognise this shows a lack of analytical ability or of honesty which, for both journalists and politicians, is concerning but not surprising.

If there is an injustice here, it is to the licence payer. The determination to hang on for life to what is basically a rather menial job suggests that it is grossly overpaid. I would propose a maximum of five years in front of the public service camera followed by at least a year's break and then reapplying like anyone else.

We are endowing staff with the very valuable attribute of familiarity and then being asked to pay for it.

Yet another stealth tax

From: Alan Chapman, Beck Lane, Bingley, West Yorkshire.

TOWARDS the end of 2008, the Chancellor reduced VAT by 2.5 per cent. However, in order to maintain the retail price of motor fuel and alcohol, he increased the excise duty by the same amount. Since then, we have endured further increases in duty at the delayed Budget.

Now that the temporary VAT reduction has concluded, VAT is imposed again at the higher figure of 17.5 per cent. Significantly, the Chancellor has not made a compensating reduction in excise duty to lower those retail prices to the previous status quo, resulting in a double whammy.

Thus the long-suffering public face yet another stealth tax from the New Labour Government. This being due to the mismanagement of the economy by the present Chancellor Alistair Darling and his predecessor Gordon Brown.

What a complete mess this country is in. Thank goodness this is a General Election year.

Ladies who go too fast

From: Austin Holroyd, Westwood Court, Dark Lane, Almondbury,

Huddersfield.

AS is illustrated by Alan Brigley's letter (Yorkshire Post, January 6), your readers have for long been opposed to intrusive music on television.

Nature programmes have to be accompanied by Offenbach, Miss Marple and her cohorts must have their tune in the background, while even the drinkers in Coronation Street can't have a conversation round the bar without some musical intrusion.

If I were a regular at the Rovers Return, the music machine would be kicked into Rosamund Street. Thank goodness for the sub-titles. Even if the spelling is not always bang on, one can usually get the gist.

Same thing with many women's voices. It isn't my ears because I can

hear Fiona Bruce, Fran Godfrey, Christa Ackroyd on Look North and a few others, but some of the – albeit very pretty – weather girls and the ones reading road traffic reports gabble away and wave their arms so that they are completely non-intelligible.

Slow down girls, please! Many's the time when you're taking us from Dover northwards, I'm still only at Watford when you're at Aberdeen.

An RAF hero remembered

From: Mark Andrew, Manor Heath Road, Halifax.

THANK you for publishing the interesting report on war graves in Bingley Cemetery (Yorkshire Post, January 2). The one hero missing was "One of the Few" Sgt Pilot James Hopewell DFM who served in 616 Squadron, joining them at RAF Leconfield in 1940 and claiming four enemy aircraft in August and September during the Battle of Britain.

He later moved to 66, 73 and 151 Squadrons and was awarded the DFM on June 24, 1941. He was killed on January 21, 1942, when a Warrant

Officer but the squadron is unknown. As a member of the Battle of Britain Historical Society, I arranged for the Lord Mayor of Bradford to present his former school, Mornington Road, Bingley, with our society's School Memorial Plaque.

When possible, I visit the grave in Bingley Cemetery under our society's "Graves Register" project to ensure they are properly cared for.

How the gritting lorries can work effectively

From: WG Lupton, Palace Road, Ripon.

With reference to Mike Donovan's letter (Yorkshire Post, December 26), 40 years ago I founded the company that now supplies nearly all the salt spreaders and snowploughs in the UK.

Thirty years ago, while on the British Standards committee for road salt and salt spreaders, I drafted the different categories of

spreaders needed for use on motorways, class A trunk roads, class B and C roads, urban and rural roads. The objective was to provide a good winter service for the travelling public, door to door.

The requirement is to prevent frost formation using 10 grams of salt per square metre. Snow removal requires 20/25 grams of salt to be applied frequently.

When privatisation started in the mid-1980s, no private contractors wanted this work, leaving the service in limbo for some years, but the local authorities had the full range of spreaders. Some were expensive and permanently mounted as all are today. Many more were demountable bulk spreaders on tipper trucks. As Mr Donovan suggests, we supplied modified agricultural spreaders to many county councils which were placed with farmers.

Today, the service is driven by cost-effect based on the cost per tonne or mile spread. Using large spreaders with one driver, but with a 12/16 tonne load of salt, it can take five to seven hours to discharge a full load. During all this time, only one distributor is spreading salt.

To meet the contractual requirements, the spreaders routes are worked out on computers, so these expensive mostly new large commercial vehicle-mounted spreaders are equipped with in-cab computer/GPS based monitoring systems.

Confirmation that the work has been done, where and at what time is provided, together with nearly as many personnel supervising the performance as drivers providing the service, coupled with the fact that many local salt storage depots have been sold by the local authority requiring the spreaders to travel further to reload.

For frost prevention, spreading this is a modern if very expensive method because of the high capital cost and short-term contracts. Today, with high traffic densities, when snow is falling and settling, the only way to keep the traffic moving is with many more simple spreaders spreading at the same time, with more salt wastage, but the cost effect would be far better and lower.

Prices change, but not weather

From: Phil Tart, Darley, Nidderdale.

DUE to being incarcerated by nine inches of snow, we have decided to start decorating the hall, stairs and landing. During the paper

stripping, I came across comments written on one of the bare walls by myself on March 16, 1979, nearly 31 years ago:"Petrol – 83p a gallon, coal – 2.20 a hundredweight, beer at the local – 34p per pint, snowing like the clappers, has been all day."

Prices have changed but not the weather. I hope the current situation does not go on until March 16.

In 1979, we had full snow cover in the garden from January 1 to March 25.

From: Terry Morrell, Willerby, Hull.

HOW long before some meteorological authority insists that "man-made global warming" is responsible for the present cold spell of weather? Is it possible that God is having a good laugh?

MP numbers don't add up

From: Derrick Riggs, Aspin Park Drive, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

CAN anyone please explain why we still have roughly the same number of members of both Houses of Parliament, as we had 50 years ago?

The EU makes all the major decisions. Then we have the Welsh, Irish and Scottish assemblies.

Surely we should be able to cut the number of members of both Houses of Parliament by 50 per cent.

You have only to look at the way the country has deteriorated over the last 50 years to realise what a useless lot they are.

Disappearing train service

From: R Small, Nethergate, Nafferton, near Driffield.

TOM Richmond (Yorkshire Post, January 2) is right about Northern Rail keeping its passengers in the dark.

Our regularly-used 22:50 service from Bridlington was mysteriously removed without any notice in the (new improved) New Year timetable.

So, goodbye fish and chips, goodbye visits to the Spa, goodbye our favourite Chinese restaurant. I know a car park, CCTV, and a

windproof shelter are asking a bit much but a train that stops would be great.

Perhaps the newly ennobled Heidi Mottram could explain this disregard for off-peak passengers.