Missing letters

His trenchant views on established religion were perceptive and thought-provoking from the humanist standpoint.

Hope you and Ann are OK.

Good to see Don Alexander still putting some of our politicians on the spot.

Keep it up Don – you are always worth listening to.

Ron Clayton

X78 bus service

Over the past few months a few readers have commented on the X78 bus service and how it has gone downhill since the new X1 service was introduced.

I’m afraid that nothing has changed.

On Monday, January 23, both the 7.15am and the 7.30am buses were missing.

This Monday and Tuesday, (January 30 and 31), the 7.30ambus was missing.

In the meantime between 7.25am and 7.50am when the X78 finally arrives there are always three X1 buses.

Maybe Alan Riggall, (First Group), can confirm when the X78 will run to the timetable.

At the moment the service isn’t just poor it’s pathetic.

Dean Hopcroft

Richmond Park Grove, Handsworth, Sheffield, S13

Points of view

I am delighted that Mr Blomfield is speaking up for his Sheffield Central constituents, not least the 70 per cent or thereabouts who voted to say that they wanted to remain in the EU.

The point I was making in my letter, which the somewhat prolix Mr Hanson, (Letters, February 1), appears to find so troubling, is that I believe that it is entirely possible to do this without implicitly denigrating others.

The implication Mr Blomfield delivered, deliberately or otherwise, was that anyone who doesn’t share his views is negative, intolerant and/or inward-looking.

Mr Blomfield’s personal view of the world is his own business.

His public pronouncements are not.

Mick Andrews

DoncasterOUT Group, Thorne Road, Doncaster, DN2

In their own interest

Besides the fact that the White House, not Brussels, rules us from No 10 with our feeble PM, what is this special relationship we have with America?

They don’t have friends, only their own interests.

S Ellis

S65

Special relationship

While there is all this talk about what we are going to do, the pound is losing value against world currencies.

This can be shown most clearly against the Iranian rial . When the referendum was being held the pound was worth 43,900 rial, it is now worth 40,200 rial.

This drop of 10 per cent means that foreign- owned car manufacturers are not getting as much profit per car.

Just how long will they put up with losing, before moving their manufacturing elsewhere?

Also, so much for this special relationship with the USA, during the Second World War the USA provided us with food and items of war, on a lend-lease agreement.

We made the last payment in the 21st century.

How is that for a special relationship?

Ron Hardy

Glenwood Crescent, Chapeltown, Sheffield, S35

Nothing to fear?

I was interested to read the eight page supplement on fracking by chemicals company, INEOS, which appeared in a number of newspapers in the region last week.

The article made fracking sound like a wonderful opportunity, full of promise with a complete absence of risk to health or damage to the environment.

I for one was not reassured by statements like “there have been some issues – but they happened in the early days of US shale exploration”, nor was I impressed by the claimed concern over our environmental duty, the “strong safety focus” or the referral to the UK’s “tight regulatory regime”.

In the US, scientific studies on the impact of fracking on the health of the population are mushrooming and make grim reading.

They are quoting recent incidents and accidents at fracking sites as well as evidence of the cumulative impact of the industry on health and the environment.

You only need to Google “gas well blow out” or “health impact of fracking” to find hundreds of recent examples of serious health and environmental concerns in areas where fracking takes place.

We are all aware of the oil industry’s track record of environmental and health disasters. Can we really trust them to get it right with the more challenging unconventional gas?

The technology employed in fracking today is relatively new. In my view this is happening too fast and insufficient attention has been paid to protecting our clean air, safe drinking water and climate.

The Environment Agency is tasked with policing the fracking industry in the UK. Would they have the capacity to monitor thousands of fracking wells, given the inevitable budget cuts they are experiencing?

We are fortunate to live in a beautiful, generally peaceful, part of the country. This could change very rapidly if INEOS is granted planning permission for exploratory drilling followed by fracking. The very essence of our countryside could be damaged irreparably. Let’s not be fooled by reassurances from INEOS. If there were nothing to fear, this expenditure would not be necessary.

Terry Jones

Clayworth

Poll had me

in stitches

Your online poll for best Sheffield United manager of the 2000s had me in stitches.

Bryan Robson, John Carver, Micky Adams and funniest of all David Weir all polled votes.

Me thinks a little bit of larking about from a few of them fu- loving ragamuffins from Sheffield 6.

Names to look out for in the 80s 90s poll are Martin Peters, Billy McEwan and Adrian Heath. Get voting.

Mr H

by email

Bad spelin!

Cum on Sheffeeld Star! Frunt page on Munday, January 30, top rite and korna. Veterans not VETERENS!

I know peeple who are not very gud at spelin but shuerly the staf at the star shud be able to set a gud standad.

There are many spelling mistakes in The Star which I’ve ignored on previous occasions but I couldn’t let this one go!

Disgrunteld reeda, Sue Tandy

by emailf