'New homes should be built for low paid workers, not the non working "propped up" with benefits' - Your Letters plus a guest of honour at the opening of Arley Arboretum in our Picture from the Past series

The government’s elaborate rhetoric of ‘quick-fix’ solutions with a new planning and infrastructure bill, appears to avoid the huge problems of existing flooding, pollution, collapsing Victorian sewers and clogged highways. Are these problems to be ‘left on the drawing board’ whilst 1.5 million new homes are approved? In any case, any new home should be built for the low paid workers not for the non working who are already ‘propped up’ with benefits.

Peter Hassall, Shifnal

Crazy world is now on its head

In my lifetime everything seems to have been turned on its head, or has it?

Crimes that were punished in years gone by are now acceptable, yet at this moment in time you may feel a policeman's heavy hand on your shoulder for thinking the wrong thoughts or daring to express an opinion which may be deemed as offensive. We seemed to have swivelled through 180 degrees such that bad is good and good is now bad and that in our alleged democratic society a vociferous minority rules. Where the actions of a small group of lawbreakers results in sweeping new powers that further erode the rights of the large law abiding majority.

We now live in an age where the state no longer exists to serve the will of the people but to control them and where our politicians ask not what they can do for their country but what can their country do for them. Sadly this phenomenon is not as recent as you would imagine, the Italian Politician Antonio Gramsci, (1891-1937) once said: "The old World is dying and the new World struggle has begun; now is the time of monsters." Perhaps you could also add, "and fools" to that quote.

We also have another relevant quote by a Catholic philosopher, Romano Guardini, (1815-1968) who commented: "Everywhere we see true culture vanishing and what is replacing it is barbaric." So no, this 180 degree U-turn doesn't appear to be a recent thing it has been coming for a while. We see now that our rights, which were steadily being eroded in the past and our country's culture which was gradually being replaced, is now accelerating at an alarming rate which is why we see our country in decline.

These two Italian gentlemen were obviously blessed with a foresight that our past and present leadership did and does not possess.

Alan Smith, Wolverhampton

Sceptical over clocks argument

While I have no strong view on the matter, I'm a bit sceptical of Derek Sharp's enthusiasm for summer time in the winter.

An experiment more than half a century ago was ended after three years of continual summer time. 

There was no clear evidence of the anticipated improvement in road safety. 

One issue was the contemporary introduction of the breathalyser, making it hard to separate improvements in road safety arising from reduction in drinking from those stemming from lighter evenings. 

The other was that advocates of the change had not taken into account that the sun provides heat as well as light. 

Consequently, the advantages of higher visibility in the evening were balanced by an increase in ice-related accidents in darker mornings as motorists ventured out before the morning thaw.

A similar experiment in Portugal in the 1990s was abandoned. 

In this case, rather than year-round summer time the government had decided to keep the same time as Spain, ignoring the fact that Lisbon, not Dublin, is Europe's westernmost capital.

Alan Harrison,  Bloxwich

Improve links to Gorge Museums

The hopes for an increase in visitors to the Ironbridge Museums with the takeover by the National Trust needs to be accompanied by a serious look at access by people who do not have a car.

The report seemed to concern itself with accessibility by road via the M54 and the potential for exploiting that.

Despite the National Trust's concern about climate change, is the organisation going to lobby for better public transport access to the World Heritage Site?

Assuming the railway continues to return to nature, better bus access from Telford Central railway station would be a useful start.

There will be visitors who don't have cars that could add significantly to the numbers who visited the museums and indeed boost their revenue.

Mike Crump, Bridgnorth

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