Your views on Reform UK, public transport and rising bills - plus a 1966 memory


Your views on Reform UK, public transport, freedoms and rising water costs
Reform ‘sting’ raises issues
Toby Neal's Opinion article, 'Gotcha!', citing 'a distinct lack of scrutiny' on 'the sting' that entrapped leading members of Reform UK raises the complex issues of the professional ethics of journalists and the morality of deception: and was the exposure deemed to be in the public interest.
There will not be a conclusive answer when scrutinising the actions of the journalists and the willing participants from Reform UK who attended the meeting voluntarily. The public can only form an opinion. But, considering that Reform UK's funding is under investigation it could be viewed that this sting exposed the behaviour of these people behind closed doors.
Once again when Farage was challenged he has used the deflection, diminish and distance strategy rather than confront the substance of the allegations. He questions the motives of the journalists, dismisses colleagues' remarks as nothing more than 'loose pub talk' and finally retreat behind the extraordinary defence that, 'frankly, I was not listening'.
A newly donated few million pounds from two billionaires might put some credibility on Reform UK's finances but the sting operation filled an even greater public need: knowing what is said when the speeches end and the cameras are presumed absent.
Roger Norton, Midlands
Put conductors back on buses
I've just been watching Fare Dodgers on TV. Not many people buy a ticket on either buses, trains, or trams, so why don't they put bus, train, and tram ticket conductors back on like they used to, way back in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s? Then nobody could say they have not paid or haven't got a ticket. There are a lot of people out of work – employ them!
Mrs Breard, Stourbridge
Our rights are being lost
Trying to push this idea for our children to wear a certain dress code and not to have their freedom outdoors after a certain time of night comes from beliefs that are not our way. Slowly, our rights, heritage and beliefs are being demoralised. Our country is becoming overpopulated, and yet we are supposed to conform to what I believe are unrealistic and outrageous demands from those in power – the very people who still, after all these years, can't get it right.
We are a country going to the dogs, and this latest idea is just another nail in the coffin if we let this happen.
Judith Fisher, Tividale
Water firms make a bomb
Yes, utility bills have increased a lot in recent years. My water bill was about £247 in 2015; in April 2026 it was £496 – doubled.
I wrote to South Staffs Water (and received a reply) asking if they were supplying deuterium (heavy water), in which case we should be glowing with health! They must be making a bomb.
T R Clift, Dudley
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