SIR – You report (Worcester News, June 6) that more than one hundred jobs are under threat at Heart of Worcestershire College as a result of government cuts to the adult education budget. The government confirm the cuts are to be made but that “the most important areas have been protected.”
It would be interesting to know what they think is unimportant. As hardly any of them will have ever set foot in a technical college they probably have no idea.
As negotiations go on over the redundancies the public will not be told what jobs are to be lost and what courses are to close and 1,500 fewer places will be available. The Governors of the college should not use these negotiations as a reason for keeping from the public the list of courses which will be closed to the people of this city and county. Sadly this round of cuts is another of those going back at least five years and which has left further education in a feeble state. How we are to have a skilled and educated workforce for the future seems not to worry the government who think their “apprenticeship” programme will be good enough.
Yet there is worse to come. Chancellor Osborne in his thirst to wield the axe has already said another £450 millions is to be stripped from the budget used to fund pre and post school education. Worcester Sixth Form College too faces losing more funding. I have to say that I find Cllr Marc Bayliss’s “concern” about these cuts and offer to to see what more that he can do as somewhat empty. He knows perfectly well these are the cuts promised by his fellow Conservatives in the election but about which they were silent on the details . Now we know why. And this is just the beginning.
BRYN GRIFFITHS
University and College Union Delegate
Worcester TUC

Our politicians have capitulated to the EU
SIR – With a panel consisting Of Labour, Lib/Lab/Con, Tory, an Ex-Dragon business woman, and one young columnist, on Question Time Thursday May 21, the BBC are truly showing their staged management.
When it came to the Question “Is the UK economy strong enough to leave the UK? ALL the panel took the opportunity to show that they and their political backers are pro Europe.
However none of them discussed or mentioned the fact that the UK, due to a succession of back room deals, is now controlled by EU laws decided by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.
Examples being the agricultural policy which is totally disadvantaged for our farmers and totally supportive of using our money for European farmers.
Or why this government won’t address our dairy farmers crying out for a little more for their milk, but are watching them go out of business in favor of EU farmers.
The fishing policy allows European ships to fish our waters where what remains of our once great fishing fleet cannot fish these waters.
And many, many more controls on our small and medium businesses here in the UK.
However, the large businesses who fund the Torys, support the EU. So obviously the Torys obey the paymaster.
The politicians in this country have capitulated to the EU. They are so in denial or looking the other way at the massive infrastructure problems of schools, health, housing, transport and all local domestic services, which UNCONTROLLED immigration is bringing, that even second generation immigrants are now speaking out.
And after another 5 years of Tory promises are the checks and balances in place?
They are looking at more border control excise officers. In America your documents are scanned, and queues or not, you wait behind the white line while they are checked out. Here in the UK with the approval of Teresa May they waved people through to avoid a delay / backlog. And with the huge backlog of asylum seeker applications they hired more office space to stack / store thousands of application documents out of sight.
Teresa May says Nasty Torys; what do you think?
Perhaps 150 years ago they would have been lined up at Traitor’s Gate.
BRIAN HUNT
Worcester

Engage in debate to expose the flaws
SIR – I am hugely concerned by the Conservative plans to introduce counter-extremism legislation that involves, in effect, trying to silence them.
Everyone knows that the best way to counter extremism is to engage them in debate and expose their flaws. This is what we saw with the rise and fall of the BNP.
Had we simply ignored them when they were at their peak or tried to silence them the problem would have been exacerbated and they may have had greater electoral success then they did - something most people can recognise as a positive. The same works for counter-extremism.
If we engage them in a debate it will expose them and their popularity amongst the disillusioned and disenfranchised will soon fall. Theresa May’s plans are not only regressive but wrong in both principle and practice.
ADAM WARNER
Worcester Lib Dems


These road lessons will not be learned
SIR – it looks like the same incompetent that devised the Whittington roundabout travesty has been let loose on the Ketch roundabout. I live in Kempsey and unfortunately use it every day. Why, oh why, did they feel the need to narrow the A38, directly opposite a car dealership and petrol station and at the junction of a well known (to us at least) rat run.This means that car transporters unloading narrow the road down even further, causing a danger to cars coming in opposite direction. Lorries and buses meeting at that point don’t even bear thinking about.
No doubt the ‘Worthies’ will trot out the same old garbage: ‘Lessons will be learned’.
This is Worcester - lessons NEVER get learned with this bunch of wallies in charge.
M C RANDALL
Kempsey

Not just concerned with a comic hero
SIR – Thank you for publishing my letter championing British WWI hero Tommy Atkins over American comic hero Spider-Man keeping guard outside Gheluvelt Park (Worcester News, May 28).
May I now ask that you allow me to respond to BarneyBeagle who - having read said letter on your website (most apt) - is seemingly concerned that my “main concern in life is a person in a coloured costume”.
It isn’t! My main concern is looking after my husband, live-in aged mother and house and garden while keeping tabs on the children and grandchildren etc etc etc and oh yes, running my own business, single-handedly, six days a week (sometimes seven) - even though I am an OAP!
In fact, I am so busy that I really don’t know how I have time to sit and write this letter. What I do know is that I try to take an interest in what is going on around me, have a sense of humour and like most women - multitask!
LOUISE RUMFORD
Worcester