Friday's Letters: Witch hunt ignores Tony Blair's successes

It's very easy to blame a great and good man for his mistakes, but why not remember his successes?

Wasn't it Tony Blair who sorted Northern Ireland out – after decades of failure by his predecessors?

Have we forgotten the former Yugoslavia – where hundreds of men in blue helmets stood by while tens of thousands (many of them Muslims) were murdered by racist thugs – until Blair sent the British Army in? Have we forgotten Srebrenitsa?

Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who ruled his people by fear and lies. He gassed his opponents by the thousand.

Like many dictators, he had to invent threats to the nation in order to justify his position. Israel became his threat, his national enemy and his scapegoat. The families of suicide bombers in Israel were rewarded with financial payments and Saddam did everything he could to sabotage peace in the Middle East. After the fall of his regime, his supporters have shown their true character by using bombs to terrorise innocent civilians going about their daily business in the markets of Baghdad.

Now Blair is accused of breaking international law – but what moral justification can there be for a law which protects thugs like Saddam, Mugabe and the Sudanese government, while they bully, terrorise and butcher their own people and bring ruin to their countries?

And what qualifications does a kangaroo court which includes mandarins or ex-mandarins have to determine whether international law was broken or not by a democratically elected government? Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to have appointed a chairman who is a high court judge?

Blair was a man of action – not just words – and he should be given credit for this. He does not deserve to be vilified by the media and hauled like a common criminal before this Chilcot inquiry.

I never much liked him as Prime Minister, but if only we had the

choice, who would we really prefer to lead us through the recession:

Brown, Cameron, Clegg or Blair? Perhaps we should have kept Blair.

From: Paul Andrews, The Beeches, Great Habton, York.

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

REMEMBER Saddam Hussein's enforcer Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as "Chemical Ali"? He has been hanged in Iraq for his part in the

murder of 5,000 Kurdish civilians back in 1988.

When will the Iraqis get the opportunity to prosecute and punish George W Bush and Tony Blair for illegally invading their country and killing an estimated 700,000 of the Iraqi people?

Inspirational teachers are a rare breed

From: JW Slack, Swinston Hill Road, Dinnington, Sheffield.

JAYNE Dowle (Yorkshire Post, January 21) is quite correct in questioning the "fast-tracking" of teachers from the ranks of highly qualified graduates.

While accepting that a good knowledge of the subjects to be taught is essential, children who are being encouraged to learn and staff who have the gift of engaging children at their level in the process, are a very special breed.

The present obsession with targets and tick boxes stifles good teaching and learning and demonstrates the complete lack of understanding of the nature of the pupil/teacher relationship in the learning process. To present any curriculum, a teacher has to interest the children at the level of their understanding (not easy to find) and teach at the pace of the child's ability to learn, assuming the child is itself motivated.

Parents need to show more respect for teachers – their abuse of many teachers is a sign of them putting their own parental inadequacies onto someone else. Secondary schools are being criticised for not teaching citizenship.

Children see the quality of citizenship at first hand outside school. Citizenship is taught from adult groups and example – eg the sports coaches who spend hours doing voluntary work with the young. It is not taught, you participate in it.

Finally, seven-year-olds are being introduced to careers advice at a time when university students often have no idea what they are going to do after graduation.

Is it not time for an inspection of the common sense, intelligence and suitability of our present politicians as being fit for purpose for the posts they hold?

Tax bid to halt littering

From: William Snowden, Butterbowl Gardens, Farnley Ring Road, Leeds.

YOUR leader, "Rubbish Move" (Yorkshire Post, January 25) was ill-judged.

Litter blights our towns and countryside. It is inexcusable to drop litter at any time – notwithstanding industrial disputes which may disrupt litter-bin and refuse collections.

Sensible and responsible people don't drop litter, but there is a hard core of stupid, ignorant and irresponsible people who do.

A special litter tax should be imposed on those items that regularly litter our streets – cans and beer bottles and soft drink containers, cigarette packets, sweet and crisp wrappers et al. It should be be a punitive tax which would annually increase or decrease commensurate with the prevailing levels of litter.

Schools should appoint prefects to monitor playgrounds. Any child seen dropping litter (in or out of school) would be required to spend playtime picking up litter.

Welfare benefits should be paid only in return for community service, eg litter picking. Failure to comply would annul all benefits.

Chastening.

Light relief in the snow

From: Stanley Parr, Maple Avenue, Pershore, Worcestershire.

THE recent snow caused much inconvenience, but it also had unexpected benefits! Marooned for eight days up a sloping road, we were obliged to totally change our normal daily routine. We carefully walked to our local shops and discovered excellent butchers and greengrocers, who we intend to continue using. Also, like most of us in our mid-70s, full of pills and fairly fit, I decided to clear the snow from our drive,

pavement and even part of our quiet road, as it melts much quicker when the thaw comes.

Still feeling quite well, the surprise came when I stood on the scales and found that over the eight days I had lost 4lbs – totally due to the exercise!

The snow, for us, proved to be a win-win situation – are we due for a bit more?

Memories of village maid

From: Jennifer Barnes, Main Street, Etton, Beverley.

IT was good to see the photograph of Shiptonthorpe's village pantomime (Yorkshire Post, January 23), but even better was to see the black and white photograph under it of the village in the 1930s.

The girl playing the part of a maid is my mother, the late Ruby Hobson, ne Simmons. Mother was born in 1919 and was brought up in Shiptonthorpe.

As children, my brother and sister and I spent many happy holidays at South View Farm, with nanna and granddad Simmons. Thank you for

bringing back wonderful memories of Shiptonthorpe.

My father's fight from the battlefield to the grave

From: Mrs Phyllis Garrod, Oakdene Avenue, Darlington.

WITH reference to your article and editorial (Yorkshire Post, January 20), it is very sad to read about the injured young men who have fought and been injured in the line of duty and are now struggling to cope and having to fight against the authorities to receive an adequate pension.

I would like to confirm that circumstances do not change with the years. My father was wounded in the First World War, resulting in the amputation of his left leg almost to the thigh. He had difficulty getting a job until Remploy came into existence in the 1950s when he became a machinist, and this was probably the most fulfilling time in his life.

He suffered pain throughout his life, phantom leg pains, psoriasis and operations on his stump at Chapel Allerton Military Hospital in Leeds, which left him unable to wear his artificial leg and having to cope on crutches. He eventually died in 1970 from cancer. His amputation and disabilities made him a very bitter man and this also affected his wife and family. There were three children – all lucky enough to attend grammar schools in Wakefield during and after the Second World War when our financial circumstances were difficult.

The family have a large file of paperwork relating to all the medical tribunals dad had to attend over the years, always trying to pay him

the least pension possible starting at 30 per cent and eventually reaching 90 per cent. It was not until he had help from a local Wakefield councillor, Coun Fitzpatrick, whom some older readers may remember, who put him in touch with the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association, that he had any support relating to Army service, wounds and constant pain. BLESMA helped my parents a great deal and are a wonderful organisation. Then, after all their efforts, my mother's widow's pension was refused in 1971 by the Department of Health and Social Security on the grounds that his death was in no way a result of his wounds and war service.

This was contained in a 60-page closely printed document – red tape at its most extreme.

Protection for our fishermen

From: Joyce Blades, North Leas Avenue, Scarborough.

FOR hundreds of years, through war and peace, the fishing boats of Scarborough and Whitby have braved the weather to bring us fresh fish and seafood.

Now, a foreign power has ordered the boats back to harbour, saying their"quota" has already been caught, (which the fishermen dispute), an action which means that we must buy fish brought in by foreign boats.

Both fishermen and public would benefit if the leaders of the fishermen were to negotiate with the English political parties who were

protecting British interests first, before foreign ones.

Dilemma for middle classes

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Littlefield Lane, Grimsby.

DAVID Cameron's Conservatives have indicated that if they win the next

General Election, they will means-test middle-class benefits in order to help reduce the public spending deficit. As a socialist, I wholeheartedly agree with this.

Yet many Tories are up in arms about possibly losing their perks. They want, however, to be careful that they are short-sightedly helping to prevent Cameron's goal of a low tax society. For the middle class can't have their cake and eat it – they need to decide whether they prefer benefits or tax cuts.

Tyrant has ruined nation

From: Lionel Naidoo, Harare, Zimbabwe.

YOUR article on Zimbabwe by Kate Hoey MP (Yorkshire Post, January 26) was spot on. Zimbabwe was sold out to a monster who has brought our

once proud and prosperous nation to its knees.

The only way forward is for Robert Mugabe and the whole of ZANU-PF to be re-educated in the matters of proper governance and the respect of the law.

This, and international pressure, will go a long way in getting rid of this despot no one loves or cares about.

Our expense

From: Jeffrey Shaw, Pinner Road, Sheffield.

THE EU's accounting methods have failed yet again, I read. Had it been a limited company, its directors would now be confronting long prison terms for fraud – the EU Commissioners, are not, I regret. They're having a laugh at our expense, aren't they?