Letters - Thursday March 4, 2021
Is it right that our loved ones who have to live in care homes are not allowed to see their families?
My dad is in a care home in Blackpool and we are unable to see him, he has had his first vaccination, as have I and my sister.
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Hide AdSome of the staff at the home have refused to have the vaccination and now there are two members of staff who have tested positive, none of the residents have.
The home is in lockdown. We used to visit my dad at least twice a week peering through a barely opened window. Since the lockdown the window has to be closed.
My dad has dementia and cannot understand why we cannot come into the home he thinks he is in prison!
What I cannot understand is nursing staff whether they have had the vaccination or not can see my dad, touch him, speak to him and be with him while his family who have had the vaccination cannot, this does not make any sense.
Lesley Mack
Blackpool
Economy
Austerity is not the answer
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Hide AdThe BBC carried an interview with Kenneth Clarke, former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, who warned that government borrowing is a serious problem and urgent steps are needed to address the deficit.
Rishi Sunak, the current Chancellor (pictured), is making similar noises, but not quite so forcefully.
The electorate is being prepared for the return of austerity.
Clarke in particular, and Sunak to a fair extent, are both completely wrong.
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Hide AdAusterity was put in train by George Osborne when in office and the policy did a huge amount of damage.
The main thing that was learnt from the period 2010 to 2014 was that Keynesianism works.
Over 90 per cent of academic economists would today endorse the use of contra-cyclical spending.
A time of historically low interest rates that look like persisting means that government investment spending is a “no-brainer” whilst retrenchment via austerity is a mark of economic illiteracy.
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Hide AdThere is a perception amongst perhaps most voters that only the Conservatives can be trusted with running the economy effectively.
This is a myth.
Dispassionate academic economists would argue that comparing the records of Conservative and Labour chancellors in office over the last 50 years shows that Tory chancellors win only the silver medal.
John Cole
via email
virus
Country will go backwards
Having listened to our Prime Minister Boris Johnson on February 22 when he outlined his “roadmap” for relaxing the current lockdown, many will want to think optimistically but in reality pessimism appears to be the likely outcome going forward.
Some will believe optimistically as they live in their dreamland world, but many more, living in the real world, will believe the situation is being relaxed too quickly with the outcome resulting in yet another lockdown.
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Hide AdThe recently introduced quarantining system does not cater for travellers entering Britain via sea ports, Channel Tunnel, etc etc, and also by the devious traveller who will undoubtedly circumnavigate the system by travelling to Britain from Red Zone countries but via a non-Red Zone country. The system will prove to be a shambolic failure as it only relates to air travel with no mention of other entry methods.
As for schools re-opening from March 8, why did teaching staff and others involved with education not receive Covid vaccinations as suggested by many?
The flood gates for failure has already started with millions having booked holiday flights to overseas countries immediately after the PM’s announcement, presumably without knowing where they can travel to.
The country will go backwards because of the roadmap and quarantining systems. All-in-all a recipe for yet another failure.
Shaun Kavanagh
via email