Your letters: JLR job losses, first aid and Farage - plus a poignant tribute to Duncan Edwards

PICTURE FROM THE PAST: Manchester United manager Matt Busby stands with his head bowed beside the newly unveiled headstone marking the grave of Duncan Edwards at Dudley Cemetery in October 1958. The service for the gifted footballer, who died aged 21 from injuries sustained in the Munich Air Disaster, was conducted by the Rev. A. D. Cattrall. Standing alongside Busby and the clergy is Councillor J. Billingham, Deputy Mayor of Dudley, representing Edwards' hometown as figures from football and the local community gathered to pay tribute to one of England's greatest sporting prospects. | ©PA

placeholder image — PICTURE FROM THE PAST: Manchester United manager Matt Busby stands with his head bowed beside the newly unveiled headstone marking the grave of Duncan Edwards at Dudley Cemetery in October 1958. The service for the gifted footballer, who died aged 21 from injuries sustained in the Munich Air Disaster, was conducted by the Rev. A. D. Cattrall. Standing alongside Busby and the clergy is Councillor J. Billingham, Deputy Mayor of Dudley, representing Edwards' hometown as figures from football and the local community gathered to pay tribute to one of England's greatest sporting prospects. | ©PA

Readers have their say on Jaguar Land Rover's job losses, the importance of learning first aid, and Nigel Farage's political future

No surprise at JLR job losses

I'm not at all surprised that JLR are in difficulty. What did they expect when they decided to go all-electric and totally disregarded the loyal customers that, year after year, returned to wonderful vehicles that, yes, were expensive but in the reach of many? But going all-electric completely and utterly puts vehicles out of their reach entirely, and they decided to compete with high-end vehicles of the Lamborghini, Ferrari price tag. What kept JLR buoyant and favoured by many is now a vehicle with the price tag of those vehicles, but not the customers who were once loyal to the Jaguar brand.

They have forgotten those who kept them going when the going was tough, and now they are asking for redundancies to try and balance the books. Workers are suffering as well as the public.

Pete Lowe, Brierley Hill

Learn how to save a life

Save a Life September, St John Ambulance’s annual campaign encouraging more people to learn simple first aid skills, is now under way. This year, we are putting the power of first aid into more people's hands by making life-saving knowledge easier to access in communities across the West Midlands.

A survey we commissioned found 39 per cent of people in the West Midlands do not recognise that choking can become life-threatening within minutes without first aid.

It also found that 34 per cent of respondents say they know how to stop someone choking by giving back blows, while 39 per cent know how to give an abdominal thrust, formerly called the Heimlich manoeuvre. Meanwhile, 29 per cent have choked to the point of panic because they felt they could not breathe.

Throughout September, St John Ambulance volunteers will deliver free first aid demonstrations in public locations and at St John buildings, helping people learn what to do if someone is choking, as well as how to respond to cardiac arrest and severe bleeding. For anyone unable to attend an event, we have guidance on the St John Ambulance website.

I would encourage readers to search for Save a Life September on the St John Ambulance website to look for their nearest free, volunteer-delivered first aid demonstration. If there are no sessions running that you can attend, community groups are able to request their own volunteer-led session.

Learning a few simple skills could help someone act when it matters most.

Jordan Davison, Community Education Partner, St John Ambulance

Has Farage’s luck run out?

Following Reform UK's severely derailed party- political conference it is interesting to read the normally ebullient Farage appears more reserved, claiming his 'family is begging him to leave front-line politics'.

It could be argued Farage began his front-line political career in June 1999, not with the mandate of the British people but with the support of a flawed experimental voting system. He was favoured by a closed-list ballot that did not publish candidate names, only the supporting party, a D'Hondt mathematical formula that was biased towards fragmented fringe parties (UKIP's anti-European Federalism agenda), and an election plagued by public apathy where only around a quarter of eligible voters turned out to cast their vote.

Farage did not enter public life as a charismatic politician: his party ticket, UKIP, won a mathematical lottery. Now he is under serious public scrutiny perhaps his luck has finally run out.

Roger Norton, Midlands

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