Here is the latest collection of letters to the editor.

Famous highwayman should’ve joined a union

DICK Turpin had it all wrong.

The poor chap used to spend endless nights standing in the road during rain, wind and snow, just waiting for a carriage to come along and hoping that there were passengers on board with valuables.

It would have been so much easier if he had joined a union and then he could have stayed at home watching Lorraine or Bargain Hunt whilst the union negotiated a better rate of pay for him.

The poor chap clearly didn’t think it through.

But, there again, perhaps he could have followed the example of hospital consultants and robbed the poor to pay the rich!

Bernard Richards

Studley

Birmingham going bankrupt ‘is Government’s fault’

SO, BIRMINGHAM City Council is bankrupt. The government auditors are on their way and even more cuts to already devastated services will no doubt follow.

Unsurprisingly Redditch Tory politicians keen to destract from their own woes were falling over themselves on Tuesday to point out Birmingham is a Labour council. Indeed it is!

However for those in a Googling mood I invite you to take a step back and search for Thanet Council (Tory). If you do you will discover a similar story.

Take another step back and look at the crumbling schools, over-stretched hospitals, struggling businesses and sewage infested waterways. That’s when you will see the bigger problem. All our public services are falling apart.

This Westminster Tory government has finally bled us dry. For 13 years now they have cut services and used the money to give tax breaks or government contracts to their pals.

They did not bother to fix the roof while the sun shone. Instead they stole all the tiles.

Councils going bankrupt is yet another consequence of Mr Sunak’s hopeless government. Whatever your politics, it’s clear Mr Sunak and his party have to go.

Because if they don’t disappear soon, there will be nothing left of this country.

Coun Ian Woodall

Labour

Headless Cross and Oakenshaw

Hospital’s receptionists left a lot to be desired

AFTER spending a night at the Alex A&E I was left appalled at the way the receptionists treated patients.

I was there all night and every patient that came in was ignored for at least 10 minutes before the receptionist could be bothered to raise her eyes from her phone or computer.

One elderly lady was swaying on her feet, with a bandage around her head and the receptionist still pretended she couldn’t see her.

They spent most of the night on their phones, making video calls, gossiping or just straight up doing nothing.

There were several times doctors and nurses came to the reception to ask for things that should have been done, they even lost a patient’s notes.

You couldn’t fault the hardworking doctors and nurses in the department who were working flat out to make sure everyone got the care they needed.

But the people with the easiest job in the hospital seem to think they can get by without putting in any actual work.

Elizabeth Smith

Wythall

Wear It Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

BREAST Cancer Awareness Month is fast-approaching this October, which means the return of Wear It Pink.

Breast Cancer Now’s biggest and brightest fund-raising event on Friday, October 20.

Every 10 minutes, someone in the UK hears the words ‘you have breast cancer’.

As a specialist breast cancer nurse, I’ve spent 12 years speaking to the people affected – hearing women and men talk through the devastating diagnosis we all dread but they received. I’ve also spoken to the friends and family swept up in cancer’s dizzying vortex.

I’ve answered questions, been the listening ear to someone’s darkest fears, and allayed all-consuming worries.

I’ve seen the many ways this relentless disease can turn someone’s life upside down, which is why I’m calling on you to help raise the funds that will enable Breast Cancer Now to achieve its vision that by 2050 everyone with breast cancer will live and be supported to live well.

By taking part in Wear It Pink, you could help fund a life-saving research breakthrough. You could give someone information they can rely on when they need it most. Or drive forward vital campaigning, to make sure everyone living with breast cancer gets the best possible treatment and care.

Together, we’ve been wearing it pink for over 20 years. We’ve dressed up, baked, quizzed and pulled off all kinds of incredible sponsored challenges.

We’ve had a lot of fun and raised over £39million in the process. We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved together, but we can’t stop there. People affected by breast cancer need us – and they need you too.

However you decide to fund-raise, you will help make sure that our vital support services and world-class research continues.

So, on Friday, October 20, wear it pink, raise money and help us fund life-changing breast cancer research and support. Join us today by visiting wearitpink.org and signing up.

Addie Mitchell

Clinical Nurse Specialist at Breast Cancer Now

EDITOR’S COMMENT

THE THIEVES who stole every single piece of equipment from the Church Hill Allotments are the lowest of the low.

The plots did nothing but good for the community and some of its most vulnerable residents.

They provided a place of solitude, fresh air and a means for the plot-holders – some in their 80s and 90s – to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing.

If you can donate gardening equipment or cash to help get this project back on its feet, please do.