Why traffic lights are needed on narrow Langton Bridge

When Morton Bridge is next flooded and the road is closed to traffic it would be a great help to motorists if traffic lights could be installed on the alternative route to Northallerton and Bedale, which is via a small bridge at Langton.

At present thee us no means of controlling the traffic which approaches from both sides onto this narrow bridge when Morton Bridge is closed, so it is causing delays, annoyance and frustration as the traffic is very heavy, and people have to wait for a break in the traffic before they can cross.

Please could the traffic light department do something as soon as possible?

Anne Smirthwaite, Northallerton

Driver damage

ONCE again, large tractors and trailers have again been causing problems in Brompton, near Northallerton.

At about 6pm last Tuesday, a tractor towing a slurry tanker (approximately 3,500 gallons) with dribble arms hit the wall of the raised pavement on Cockpit Hill with sufficient force to burst one of the tanker's tyres and do significant damage to the wall.

A further cause for concern was that the incident took place extremely close to where Northern Gas Network engineers were affecting a connection to a gas main.

The previous morning, Monday, September 23, a tractor towing a trailer-load of large bales tore a branch from one of the village trees and pulled down telephone lines in Northallerton Road, both of which would suggest to me that the trailer’s load was too high.

Both of these incidents demonstrate to me that the drivers of these tractors and trailers have little regard or respect for the residents of Brompton and their property.

I would also assume that neither driver will be paying for the damage they have caused to the wall and the telephone lines which means that someone else will once again be paying for their cavalier attitude to driving large vehicles through our village.

As I alluded to in my previous letter, “Tractor danger” (D&S Times letters, July 26) how much longer do we have to endure the “couldn’t care less” behaviour of these drivers?

Do we have to wait until someone is killed or there is a major disaster which, given the closeness to the gas works, the driver of the slurry tanker came remarkably close to on this occasion?

Robert Carter, Brompton, Northallerton.

Matter of conscience

SOME years ago, under the last Labour government, an issue arose of a religious nature.

Tony Blair's then spin doctor, Alastair Campbell came out with the amazing comment "We don't do God!"

Tony Blair and US President George Bush took us into the Iraq war and it was confirmed that approximately 300,000 civilians, just ordinary men, women and children, died in the conflict.

Later, Mr Blair converted to Catholicism.

Now we are on the verge of seeing a large number of our senior citizens facing a death which could be avoided, created by this government's winter fuel allowance policy.

A number of these pensioners can legally apply for benefits but are unable to trudge through the quagmire of the application process.

Also, a great number are from a very proud generation who will never ask for handouts or benefits.

I will be interested to see, when the media begins reporting these deaths in the coming months, how Mr Starmer and Rachel Reeves deal with their conscience.

Also, I am amazed that so soon after an election, politicians have already forgotten they were elected by the public as our servants and not our masters.

Democracy has provided us with the opportunity to be governed by the good, the bad and the bewildered.

Dennis Trought, Aiskew, Bedale.

Political football

POLITICAL statements, such as “the NHS is not broken”, are not helpful, particularly as Rishi Sunak’s Government had started to make effective improvements.

We are fortunate to have fine medical professionals, including world-renowned consultants and professors, as well as excellent universities and teaching places. We also have competent accountants and loyal staff.

However, urgent problems do need to be addressed, such as working conditions, fair pay and clear pathways, and this means an urgent revision of both organisation and methods.

What is broken is administration and corporate governance. Fully qualified, business-orientated administrators need to be brought in to replace the dead wood in the administrative arm of the business. Clear pathways would avoid wasting time and money, and mistakes.

The larger the trust, the more complicated it becomes. The money saved from scrapping NHS England, and any other such bodies, could be made available to hospital trusts, each of which should be run as independent business which should be overseen by a national body to supervise quality and standards.

Using the NHS as a political football is old hat since it is more important to us than any party membership, and we do not need to be directed by London as we are quite capable of running our own affairs here in the North. Trust CEOs must be given maximum support to discharge their duties.

There are many good people working on our behalf who need encouragement, not doom and gloom. Finally, those with tunnel vision should be aware that there is an oncoming train, its name, “rhetoric express”.

Bernard Borman, Leyburn.

Applications welcome

THE application process has opened for 2025 Churchill Fellowships.

Each year's successful applicants (134 people in 2024) receive funding for between four and eight weeks of intensive research, including travel abroad anywhere in the world, relevant to the subject and objectives of each application.

A Churchill Fellowship provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel, meet (in person or online) and learn from leading innovators in the field, in order to return and share that learning and its benefits in the UK and/or your own community.

Fellowship themes cover every area of society (including rural life, climate change and Tech For All) and reflect the modern life of the nation.

Would you – or someone you know – friend, neighbour, family member or colleague – be interested in applying for a Fellowship?

Eligibility criteria, the application timeline and more is explained within the application pack on the website churchillfellowship.org.

Applications open once a year and any adult UK citizen may apply (there is no upper age limit). The forthcoming deadline for applications is 12pm on Wednesday, November 12, 2024; it is important to have regard to the FAQS and other information provided for guidance on the website. Note: Late applications will not be considered.

Ruth Annison, Askrigg, Leyburn.

Prisoners release

THE public have now been told that dozens of prisoners let out early under Labour's latest policy to reduce the numbers being held in prison were incorrectly released. How on earth did this happen?

Sadly, on hearing this latest revelation I was not surprised, as it is yet another sad example of the sheer incompetence demonstrated by various departments within the establishment.

Just how difficult can it really be to select the correct prisoners from within a highly controlled area with its "captured" audience and associated documentation at hand?

How much longer must the long-suffering public have to put up with these second-rate bureaucrats responsible for our safety?

Mike Kerr, Darlington.

Clueless conference

AFTER watching the Labour Party conference I am still at a loss as to their intentions or policies regarding helping the country make progress in domestic and world issues.

Keir Starmer made the worst speech that has ever come out of any political conference.

All we learned was that he could play the flute and a lady wanted to throw him down a staircase and to many people, they wish she had.

Rachel Reeves came up with no policies whatsoever except she would still steal from the pensioners and unfortunately not from the non doms as they have all left the country.

If she wants to learn about budgeting, let her learn a lesson from the millions of pensioners who she so obviously dislikes because they have to do it every week on their pension which she steals back every week.

Angela Rayner has no clue about construction or planning and if she wants to build 1.5 million houses, I suggest she buys a big Lego set.

David Lammy deserves no comment because he does not have clue about anything.

Yvette Cooper said she will stop illegal migrants but has not come up with any ideas yet.

She did say that her job was to uphold law and order so woe betide anyone who voices forceful dissent against the Government, she will brand them right wing thugs and remove hardened criminals from our prisons to make room for them.

All in all, the biggest debacle that has ever graced the stage of British politics.

If they were the captain of a ship, even a pedalo would be way beyond them.

T J Ryder, Acomb, York.

History repeating?

SIR KEIR STARMER claims there is “light at the end of the tunnel”, which reminds me of a famous newspaper headline on the day of a general election when Neil Kinnock was Labour leader – it read – “Would the last person to leave the country please turn out the light”. Is history about to repeat itself?

Also: Now the Prime Minster, Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have sportingly volunteered to stop accepting “free clothing,” charity shops in their respective constituencies should send them details of what they stock, for nobody wishes to see those living on the breadline earning more than £2,000 per week be further embarrassed.

Peter Rickaby, Selby.

Questionable priorities

SIR KEIR STARMER and his team have got their priorities all wrong.

The cruel cut to fuel payments for pensioners comes at a time when billions are being spent on ludicrous and wasteful “net zero” mega-projects.

But the obsession with net zero targets will also worsen poverty and reduce everyone’s standard of living, not just pensioners.

One example is electric cars. The government has earmarked £6bn over the next five years to boost the numbers of electric cars on our roads.

But this money would be far better spent on things like the NHS, schools, and winter fuel payments for pensioners.

Electric cars are very expensive despite being very unreliable.

But the net zero obsession means the government wants us all to buy one whether we want one or not.

It is the same with “renewable” energy which the government repeatedly tells us is for our own good.

But is it worth it? Spending huge amounts of money to subsidise solar panels and wind turbines is not what most people want.

They also don’t want our countryside to be ruined by them.

The cash keeps endlessly flowing for net zero targets but maybe people are starting to realise it is all a bit of a con?

Rather than bullying us into living a “green” lifestyle, the government needs to start living in the real world and focus on the spending priorities that people actually voted for at the last election.

Peter Havelock, Eston, Middlesbrough.

Budgetary cut backs

IS the North East solely to blame for the financial black hole we now have in this country, with the A66, A1, Metro extension and now Shotley Bridge hospital all now on hold?

Maybe we need a new Hadrian’s Wall building from Scarborough to Barrow – let us look after ourselves.

Alan Percival, Frosterley, Bishop Auckland.