SIR – I had reason to make a train journey to Nottingham last week. The train from Birmingham New Street Station was reduced to two carriages for some technical reasons and as a a result was ridiculously overcrowded. Passengers were even standing in the toilet. I gave up my seat to an elderly lady, and had hoped that other men would do the same.
My gesture of giving up my seat did not inspire any one else to do the same, instead men and boys alike buried their heads into laptops, books, or papers pretending the situation was not happening.
What has happened to even the most basic of manners ?
It disgusts and embarrasses me, when men dressed in suits, teenagers wearing baseball caps, even school children in uniform don’t automatically volunteer their seats to the disabled, pregnant women, and the infirm men and women of our community.
I did mention (in a loud-ish manner) to a young man sat down close by, that perhaps he ought to offer his seat to one of the many ladies that should have been seated. I was treated to a tirade of verbal abuse, and very unceremoniously to mind my own f-ing business!
Is that what one now gets for trying to be a well-mannered member of our society?
GARY KIBBLEWHITE
Worcester

These people are all economic migrants
SIR – The Worcester News headline Friday, September 18, ‘Our duty to help refugees’, seems to me to have been utterly destroyed by data from the EU which says only one in five of those storming Europe’s borders is actually fleeing Syria. Eight out of ten of them, according to EU data, are from countries as far away as Nigeria. They are economic migrants! Doesn’t the fact that most are in fact economic migrants make the something must be done do-gooders look somewhat silly?
The migrant ‘crisis’ now tearing Europe apart, and promoting the construction of ‘hundreds of miles of razor wire’ confirms to me the BBC must now be broken up, thereby despatching the ‘Guardianistas’ who have brainwashed the nation for weeks over the refugee crisis to less high profile occupations, where they will no longer be able to manipulate the nation’s political agenda, or drive the ‘something must be done’ do-gooders into swivel-eyed hysteria.
People, and indeed children, have been dying to get to Europe for years now. And the increasing success of those seeking to move to Europe has encouraged many many more to try, resulting in this summer’s tidal wave of economic migrants, which so far apparently total more than half a million. The only way to stop this flood of humanity is to raise the drawbridge and allow none in. More than half of us don’t want any more immigration into our country, and people of other EU nations are staying the same thing, despite what various leaders have claimed over the past weeks.
N TAYLOR
Worcester

Labels don’t matter - these people need help
SIR – The massive movement of people from the eastern part of the world towards the west has got to such a crisis point that Global leaders of high moral stature and fibre are needed to give clear direction to bring control & proper humanity in our treatment towards these individuals & families. Forget about all the labelling of whether people are “refugees”, “migrants” or “economic migrants”, these are people with the same aspirations and needs as you and me; they just happen to have been born in an area of the world undergoing huge turmoil from which they naturally feel the need to escape.
We must not become immune to the shocking scenes of washed up dead bodies on Greek island shores or of people desperately trying to break down fences or scenes of overcrowded trains & buses; almost bringing back scenes from the Second World War.
The UN must show leadership now alongside religious leaders of all faiths and world leaders to remind us of the right way of dealing with our fellow man, caught up in such distress. Of course the UK should increase its intake of people; 20,000 over 5 years is only 4,000 per year which when distributed over the country will only amount to a few families being received here in Worcestershire. What a hard decision this was for our councillors to make on our behalf! We must do more as a country and not be shamed by other European countries who are doing far more with much less. Other countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and the Far East should also come forward & offer help so that we act together as one.
2015 is the UN International Year of Light and its Charter for Compassion states that,” compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries... and is indispensable to the creation of a just & a peaceful global community.” Who knows, how we react now to this situation may well have an impact on the ISIS movement, possibly helping to disarm it?
So, come on UN and world leaders, the world needs your firm guidance now.
GERALDINE LOWMAN
Worcester

Many thanks to staff
SIR – I would like to thank the manager and staff of Morrisons (Droitwich Spa) who came to my aid when I was taken poorly at the local branch on Friday, September 18. Also the very kind ladies who assisted my sister-in-law to get home with our shopping. It’s comforting to know there are still people who care in this day and age
LEONARD JUDGE
Droitwich