'Flags aren't oppressive and menacing - we should fly them with pride' - Join the debate as we publish Your Letters
Your letters today deal with flag waving, the foaming River Severn and our policies on extracting oil
Please fly your flag with pride
In response to Clare Davies’ letter relating to English flags being flown from lampposts being "oppressive and menacing”, I totally disagree - and I’m Welsh!
Go to any Welsh town, village (or Scottish), and you will see a plethora (not bad for a Taffy!) of Ddraig Gochs’ (Welsh dragons) flags.
I’ve lived happily (as a Welsh exile) in Hednesford, Staffordshire, for some 40 years and I embrace the English flag - it embodies to me the warmth and friendship that Hednesford people have shown me.
Clare also states "we play by the rules of the game because we invented most of them" - surely a comment which could be construed as colonial or a vestige of the empire.
Also her comments reference the flags being an expression of a weak totalitarian state! The mere fact that she can write such correspondence and I can reply is absolute proof we live in a vibrant democracy.
To conclude, fly your flags with pride, and embrace your culture and heritage. Shakespeare, Churchill, and Queen Elizabeth II to name just three.
Brian Griffith, Hednesford
Not trusting of foam response
It was interesting to see Severn Trent Water dismissing the findings of local campaigners in your article on river foam. A quick Google search tells me that "Severn Trent has been found guilty of misleading regulators”. And it was fined £2 million for ‘reckless’ pollution at treatment works in Stoke last year. As a customer, I no longer believe anything Severn Trent Water tells me.
Jamie Russell, Shrewsbury
U-turns of Ed on oil extraction
Ed Silliband has been ranting on about not extracting oil from Lincolnshire and its offshore field but has now realised that he has made a gross error of judgement and therefore has to back-track. Yet another Labour U-turn!
Another point is that we do not have £25-35k to spend on an electric vehicle whereby the battery is not easily recyclable. According to the insurance industry, these electric vehicles have resulted in increased premiums because of these facts. An article in the Star alluded to the problem that EVs may loose 44 per cent battery life in extreme heat (not the best selling point).
I wish to repeat my extreme disenchantment with Starmer and his government with which we will probably have to tolerate for at least another two years. Maybe somebody will correct my assessment if they disagree.
Martin Reid, Edgmond
