So the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are warning us of the dangers of milk ("Offensive poster taken down after complaints", December 10).
As a child, my mother urged me to drink lots of milk as the calcium is good for bones and teeth.
And through my school days I had the free 1/3 pint of milk daily, and it hasn't done me any harm.
Next, PETA wanted the council to change the name of our city to 'Not eating ham' and not have meat on Christmas Day.
Perhaps they could go and live in 'PETAborough'?
PETER HODGKINSON
Meadow Rise
Nuthall
THE most welcome news that the Labour Party in Scotland faces a wipe-out at the General Election augurs well for unmarried wage earners who, in my painful experience of numerous Socialist budgets since 1964, have been relentlessly robbed blind under Labour administrations.
Single taxpayers should heed this melancholy warning from history before voting Socialist; for history repeats itself and single people without family commitments are fair game to Labour chancellors with their large sticky fingers.
Singles will be systematically robbed and disproportionately penalised. It is just how it works.
Single taxpayers must remember the old adage. If you are not a Socialist at 19 you have no heart. If you are still a Socialist at 29 you have no head.
DANIEL FARRINGTON
Poplar Avenue
Sandiacre
DO me a favour through your columns, before my demise. I would love to meet somebody from my early days.
I was born at 15 Deptford Street, Bulwell, on July 10, 1918, part of a family of eight. I went to Highbury School in Albert Street, Bulwell.
At 14 I worked at Raleigh, then the Post Office telephones, and the RAF.
At 96-and-a-half I am still active, driving, and have a good long memory!
I should love to meet Gladys Smith, who lived off Coventry Road in Bulwell and worked at Players.
I know 78 years ago is a long time and it's unlikely, but maybe it's possible?
Many thanks.
I should also love to meet a regular Post correspondent, Joy James, who generously left me her lovely book.
ALBERT LAMB
Hartcroft Road
Bestwood Park
If you are Gladys, or know her, email opinion@nottinghampost.com and we'll pass the message on.
WHEN are David Cameron and Ed Miliband going realise that sometimes "sorry" is not enough when it comes to MPs abusing their position?
We are constantly hearing the word "clarity" being bandied about but it obviously doesn't apply to those who represent us when we have MPs making absurd sexual references for a bet, or playing games in meetings.
Do we need to closely look at those who select or support the MPs to see if the criteria for consideration for selection to represent a constituency needs to be more robust?
Maybe we need a system by which MPs can be dismissed. This would give the electorate more say and trust in our MPs.
TONY MORRIS
Manor Green Walk
Carlton
ALLAN Hare warns us to beware an aggressive Russia ("Wake up before it's too late", Letters, December 11).
Surely the truth is quite the opposite; it is the aggressive EU and NATO gobbling up all the countries on Russia's western border, in Russia's natural sphere of influence, who are the real problem and would appear to Russia as a threat – which has prompted them to annexe Crimea.
The borders of Ukraine were drawn up during the era of the Soviet Union so it didn't really matter whether millions of Russians were classed as Russian or Ukrainian, but come independence it did matter.
Does the Ukraine really want a large, hostile community within its borders? We've seen what forcing people to live together can lead to in the former Yugoslavia.
The truth is the US is trying to weaken or destroy Russia, and the collapse in oil prices is a real threat to Russia as the rouble falls in value.
T WOODWARD
Nightingale Way
Bingham
DEREK Allwright is only partially correct when he says cutting wages for MPs is not a solution (Letters, December 18).
It would be fair, though.
Do we need a super-educated Eton/Oxbridge elite ruling us but looking after their own class interests first? No. We would be better off without them.
Do we need any highly educated people ruling us at all? No.
We pay a highly-educated and experienced Civil Service to advise our politicians on their options and then carry out their decisions.
At the moment we are paying twice for the same job, often badly done.
Bad civil servants would be easier to sack than bad MPs.
Why don't I and ordinary folk like me stand for Parliament?
Almost certainly we would not get the backing of any party, or at least not that of the party of our choice, and would be unlikely to be allowed to stand in our own constituency even if we did.
Democracy for all is not compatible with party politics for parties look after their own; and so parties come first with most politicians.
RL COOPER
Harlequin Close
Radcliffe-on-Trent
Notts
