On a regimental website I visit, someone had left these two paragraphs which I think just about covers it all.

"I would like to thank my teachers for teaching me how to read, write and speak English.

"I would also like to remind today's teachers, that 326,000 UK soldiers and 62,000 UK civilians lost their lives in the Second World War so that they could continue to teach this nation in English."

The NUT should look at the way our children are being taught and that these left wing people should redress them selves.

If we had lost either of the past two world wars, the NUT would now be talking German.
Dave Stimson
via email

Don't move our ducks
My family was for many years involved in Alfred Golding Ltd, Agricultural Merchants at 32 West Street.

It was part of the yard scene that the resident Muscovey ducks would amble up from The Waits and feed on any spilt corn.
They were a recognised feature for as long as I can remember and I am 56.

Whilst accepting they are one of the messier ducks, probably second to geese, it would seem a shame to not be able to find a solution to prevent relocation.
Richard Saltmarsh
St Ives

>> Is everyone on St Ives Town Council quackers?
Not content to wind its residents up about the Corn Exchange, it now seems to want to persecute our ducks.
So what if they make a mess. It's nowhere near as bad as the litter left by Friday and Saturday night revellers.
Angela Sharpe
via email

Late night drilling
WHATEVER possessed the council to allow Cambridge Street to be dug up with a pneumatic drill at 8.35pm this week.

Were they trying to give my baby the biggest fright of her life by working right outside her window or were they trying to disturb our fragile renovation project on our 16th century home?

Perhaps they were promptly and diligently attending to an emergency.
A little etiquette in the form of a letter or a knock at the door would have been nice.
Caroline Foster,
Cambridge Street
St Neots

RSPB thanks
>> Can I, through your newspaper, thank all those people who purchased RSPB pin badges at various outlets in Huntingdon, St Ives, St Neots and various other locations throughout the county. Being part of the Eastern region, we have reached above our target for the financial year.
James Hamilton-Bird
RSPB local group liaison
Kimbolton


Why is cinema story a mystery?

What exactly is going on with the plans to bring a cinema to St Neots (Town Crier, April 3).
It appears the town council and the Joint Project Group are still at loggerheads, even though last time they insisted they were working together.

Once again it seems the politicians are more interested in scoring political points than actually doing something worthwhile for the town.
Although the JPG claim to be independent, their number includes at least two Conservatives, and the matter seems to be a Tories versus Liberal Democrat football.

Instead of making the odd claim here and there, and then squabbling like spoilt children over who did what and who met who, why don't they put their cards on the table and tell us what exactly they are doing?
I have been privy to a little information about what is going on behind the scenes and have heard claims and counter-claims from both sides.
However, I don't understand why both are reluctant to reveal exactly what they're doing.

So much is being kept a secret that I am a little baffled as to who is actually doing what.

I fear that if we fail to get a cinema, they will both blame the other, or if by some miracle we do actually get a cinema, then I'm sure both sides will be lining up to take credit for it.
Name withheld by agreement


Swings and roundabouts
>> The letter from your reader Mrs Jan Saunders of Beatty Road, Eaton Socon praising the new play equipment on Nelson Road Park is very welcome.
You may like to know that there are two play areas in Eaton Socon along with the new play area in Duck Lane, Eynesbury that are being refurbished this year. This is part of the St Neots Town Council's four-year programme of improving all the council's play areas throughout the town.
However, this is the first any of us have heard that the new play equipment is the result of the Conservative candidates' "campaign". 
Had it been, then it does beg the question of why her Conservative colleagues on the town council voted against the budget that allocated the funding for the refurbishment programme.
Gordon Thorpe
Town and District Councillor
Eaton Socon Ward

Carers grateful for support
Carers UK Huntingdonshire are most grateful to the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation for awarding us the sum of £1,790 from the Cambridgeshire County Council Small Grant Scheme.

This money will go towards our work for those who give unpaid care to family, partners or friends in need of help because they are ill, frail or have a disability.

The foundation's focus is to build a sustainable long-term source of funding for local community and charitable groups and we hope that they will continue to support us in our work.

Carers UK Huntingdonshire can be contacted at the Maple Centre, Oak Drive, Huntingdon or by phone on 01480 420615.
We are able to offer information, support and social events, and facilitate involvement with support workers at no cost whatsoever.
Vera Jackson
Chairman
Carers UK Huntingdonshire


Debt control?
>> I READ the article about the rise in debt (Town Crier, April 3) and I can't say I'm surprised.

We are reading daily about the 'credit crunch', the Northern Rock fiasco and the despicable rumours floating around The City trying to de-stabilise other banks.

The greed of those traders astounds me, as does the companies who were all too eager to lend more than people can afford to pay back.
It would be some sort of justice that their behaviour is coming back to haunt them, except it is hitting everyone else too.

Yes, it should be up to an individual to take responsibility for their finances, but unfortunately not everyone is good with money or don't know their limits. It is the lenders who should have been more responsible.

I know one person who was given a mortgage last year which was eight times his salary. The fact that he is struggling to meet the repayments really shouldn't surprise the bank which lent him the cash in the first place. He's resigned to losing his home, but I think the bank should be punished for its appalling decision in the first place.
Andy Hemsley
via email


New system is democratic
>>I am writing in response to the letters and the article regarding the creation of the roles of leader and deputy leader of the St Neots Town Council (Town Crier, March 13).

Perhaps your readers will appreciate some light being shed on this issue rather than the artificial heat generated by local Conservatives.
The allegation made by Cllr Farrer that the leader can authorise spending and carry out projects without taking it to full council is wrong.

The powers in the new standing orders are about being consulted, briefed, and about providing a steer to senior officers on the political direction of the council.

Another local Conservative alleges that there is a plan to transfer many of the powers of the council to the leader. This is untrue. 
It is also said that the rest of the councillors are stripped of their powers to challenge and debate.

Again this is untrue. Councillors' powers are totally unaffected. Indeed when this issue was debated at policy and resources committee, we proposed that backbenchers be given the additional and explicit right to question the leader in council.

Two Tory councillors objected to this and asked for it to be removed.
Another Tory asserts that we are crushing democracy and stifling debate. Where on earth is the evidence for that? 
Councillors can put items on agendas, put forward motions for debate, and ask questions and so on.

None of this has changed; no rights or powers have been taken away. This issue has been debated ad nauseam at P&R committee and at council.
Cllr Harty chooses not to take part in meetings of the P&R committee despite being the Tory group leader and then flounces out of the council meeting.

In acting like this, he is hardly helping to advance the interests of St Neots.
Your report also states that the leader will have power to take urgent decisions; this is not so.

Only the town clerk can take urgent decisions (as is usual in most councils) but now he must consult with the leader. This is obviously increasing democratic control rather the reverse.

How Cllr Harty can say this process handing "complete and absolute power" to the council leader is beyond me.

Finally, by electing a leader of the council, St Neots will be following the example of the other Conservative- run town councils in the area and the Conservative-run district council.

Furthermore, it will allow all members of the council, whatever political persuasion, to be considered for the post of mayor of our great town.
Hardly dictatorial or undemocratic.
Gordon Thorpe
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
St Neots Town Council