‘How pensioners with surplus funds could help Government’

SO ‘Rachel from accounts’ now appears more desperate to fill her inherited financial deficit.

With so many pensioners stating they did not require the abolished Winter Fuel allowance anyway why not raise the current Premium Bond threshold above the current £50k?

This surely would generate more money for her department allowing the pensioners with surplus funds to invest their money into the government and the opportunity for all bond holders to win more prizes!

Lisa Dunster,

‘Pensioner in waiting’,

Appleton Roebuck

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We still need accountability with free speech

AS a medical student, I’ve grown up in a world where the values of accountability and integrity have always been paramount. Yet the emphasis we place on truth in society seems to be diminishing by the day. Most recently, Meta’s decision to scrap its fact-checking programme under the guise of “restoring free speech” reflects a troubling disregard for honesty and integrity.

Replacing them with “community notes” shifts the burden onto users, paving the way for unchecked echo chambers and the amplification of misinformation. Such recklessness undermines critical guidelines like the UK’s forthcoming Online Safety Act, which is designed to uphold the integrity of public discourse.

Furthermore, Zuckerberg’s motives appear to go beyond the rhetoric of free speech. Aligning with Trump, whose administration is expected to ease regulatory scrutiny on Big Tech, reveals an opportunistic strategy to secure political favour. Thus this isn’t about empowering users – it’s about profit at the expense of public trust.

If Zuckerberg truly believes in free speech, he must balance it with accountability and transparency. Free speech without responsibility is not a principle to celebrate – it’s a recipe for chaos.

Malik Takreem Ahmad,

Boars Well Drive,

Bradford

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Ditch Tories and get behind Starmer

TORY MP and Shadow Treasury Minister Alan Mak along with his boss Mel Stride remind me of that great old Black Lace song The Hokey Cokey.

Neither of them realise the wreckage that the Conservatives botching of Brexit has caused, let alone for repenting for such economic incompetence.

At his original Tory candidate selection where he succeeded David Willetts as Tory candidate for Havant in 2015, Mak spoke supportively at the thought of leaving the EU.

Then when the referendum came along, Mak jumped in line behind David Cameron so quick, his feet barely touched the ground.

And now after all of the damage caused by the recklessness of Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Rishi Sunak, Mak has yet again had a bash at the EU and accused them of being uncompetitive in a market that has cost Britain £13.5 billion a year in lost business opportunities since Britain left the EU in such an unprofessional manner in 2020.

Yet whilst Sir Keir Starmer is quite rightly re-setting Britain’s battered relationships abroad in the interests of growth in the UK, all the Conservatives do is jump on bandwagon after bandwagon just to try and cover up the bitter infighting going on behind the scenes in their own party.

Which simply underlines why people need to follow my example and ditch the Tories once and for all by getting four square behind Sir Keir Starmer.

Geoffrey Brooking,

Saxley Court,

Havant, Hampshire

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It’s just peanuts

CHANCELLOR Reeves returned from her trip to China claiming it a huge success having negotiated a trade deal worth £600m over 5 years, in the context of global trade over that time it equates to the cost of a packet of salted nuts – some success.

Peter Rickaby,

West Park,

Selby

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