SIR – Congratulations to Councillor Udall for actually campaigning for what the people of Worcester actually want by placing signs around the city in prominent places about the traffic chaos which we have to endure every day.
What I find deeply disturbing is Tory council’s response, Councillor John Smith said it was over the top and Councillor Mark Bayliss  called it pathetic. 
What Worcester people find pathetic is the Tory council throwing good money after bad with failure after failure trying to solve the traffic chaos, If the Tory council think dualing from Powick island to Whittington island is going to solve the chaos I think they will be sadly mistaken. Also what I find pathetic is the incompetence of the Tory council for spending £2.6 million on hiring consultants (which are going totally unchecked) to do their work for them. The one contract which I find particularly pathetic is the one contract worth £12,850 which was still going on £157,740 later. This is the second time in 18 months the Tory council have been audited and found to be allowing contractors to write their own checks. The most pathetic thing of all was the response from Councillor Mark Bayliss for this criminal waste of tax payers money, he said, we are spending less than we were before. In the next local elections I will most definitely be voting Labour.
JOHN MATTHEWS
Worcester

Why people worry about immigration
SIR – Is it any wonder immigration is THE BIG issue for so many millions of voters?
A recent report by a former Bank of England expert says what we all know... that the flood of migrant workers from the EU is driving down wages in traditional working class jobs.
This is why it is vitally important Britain regains control of its borders and choose who we let in. It is those who will help us build a stronger economy, and not the ones who will slash and undercut the income of families that are already on the breadline.
In reality the skilled workers suffer as well. Example: a builder on £100 a day with a family and mortgage, then along comes, say, a Pole, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, whoever, and offers to do the job for £50. It’s a no-brainer.
GB DIPPER
Leominster


The changing climate is a very real concern
SIR – The Met Office’s chief scientist, Professor Dame Julia Slingo, said last month: “All the evidence from fundamental physics… suggests there may be a link between climate change and record-breaking winter rainfall… An extended period of extreme UK winter rainfall is now seven times more likely than in a world without human emissions of greenhouse gases.” 
It was recently reported that many of Britain’s flood defences are being abandoned or maintained to minimal levels because of government cuts that could leave almost twice as many households at “significant risk” within 20 years.
 This is in addition to the government’s commitment to fracking. We need to take serious action on climate change to secure a safe climate for ourselves now.
NEIL LAURENSON
Worcester Green Party

Labour — they’re a laugh a minute, folks
SIR – This week, citizen Corbyn completed the purge, sorry, ‘revenge reshuffle’, of his shadow cabinet. I watched wide-eyed, eating popcorn.
 Ministers were sacked and demoted, all for sowing division. A few more grabbed their balls and stormed off in tantrum. If these ministers disagreed so wholly in the first place, why on Earth did they want to be in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet? Perhaps it was the lure of the limelight, the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd! More likely it was to bulk up their CV for when they use their ‘transferable skills’ (I nearly spilled my popcorn) to follow Ed Balls into football club chairmanship.
 Last summer, Labour MPs waxed lyrical about the pure democracy of ‘allowing’ their party members to elect their own leader. That was until the plebs elected the wrong candidate. Cue MPs’ private sulks, public spats and assorted toys flying from the pram. The media thought it was Christmas and I laughed so hard I finally spilled my popcorn.
 The absolute un-democracy of the Parliamentary Labour Party is there for all to see. The disconnect between its Westminster elite and its voters is like a chasm. It asked members to elect a leader and is furious at the ‘wrong’ result. The EU did something similar with the Irish referendum. In addition, Labour Party funding looks set to drop by £6m as a result of the Trade Union Bill. One word, or rather acronym, sums up this soap opera: LOL.
OWEN CLEARY
Worcester

Stop clowning around, put houses on stilts
SIR, In flood plain areas why not build all new houses on stilts, thereby putting houses safe from flooding. The car could go under the house, which would clear the roads of a lot of parked cars. I have seen this done on the Continent a lot and also in the UK.
PJ CRUMP
St Johns, Worcester

You have my heartfelt, burning admiration...
SIR, Some readers would like to burn you at the stake, Mr Phillpott (Worcester News, January 2), but I love every word you write.
GEORGE COWLEY
Worcester