THE Off-patent Drugs Bill will be voted on in Parliament on 6 November. I am campaigning in support of this Bill and hope my local MP joins me and lends their support to this vital piece of legislation which could benefit hundreds of thousands of patients in the UK.

Supported by Breast Cancer Now, the UK’s largest breast cancer charity, the Bill is designed to address the problem of making drugs that have fallen out of patent, but have since proved effective for clinical uses outside of their original licence, routinely available on the NHS.

If it successfully enters UK law, it will improve access to low-cost treatments for conditions including breast cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. For it to progress a step closer to becoming law, 100 MPs need to turn up and vote in its favour this November.

Neglecting the clinical benefits of off-patent drugs is a huge oversight, especially as these drugs tend to be very low-cost. Given budgetary constraints on the NHS, surely this is exactly the type of opportunity decision-makers should be embracing. I encourage others to join me and add support to Breast Cancer Now’s Unlock Drugs campaign by visiting breastcancernow.org/unlockdrugs

Ms Alison Hollywood-Walker, Riversvale Drive, York

 

I REFER to your lead story on August 10 about York Hospital Trust being willing to pay £150 per hour to agency nurses and £140 per hour to doctors. Not only are the agency companies who supply these temporary staff holding the NHS to ransom but if you were in either profession who would you wish to be employed by with such financial reward on offer?

Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby

 

SEEING news of cuts in some police services on the horizon, on a wider front could we not have a military style police service working side by side with the civilian one as a support measure?

This has been done in other countries and has been accepted. For those not in action abroad, it would be a possible support measure for the time being while services, due to financial implications, are sorted.

Keith Chapman, Custance Walk, York

 

Freedom or slavery, our only choice I AM increasingly of the opinion that there is no left and right in politics just freedom and tyranny. To me, as a Euro-sceptic, there is a stark choice before us: the ruthless ideology of a European super-state or a British society that holds on to its unique traditions and sovereign independence. At the end of the day, no freedom-loving citizen of this country wants to be taxed by the faceless European parliament, be subject to hare-brained European laws, be defended by an interfering European army and be obedient to a common EU currency whose value is determined by Frankfurt.

In the profound words of GK Chesterton, “We must go back to freedom or forward to slavery”.

Aled Jones, Southcliffe Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire

 

I READ your article in the press on August 17 about the Daniel Gath proposed development in Sheriff Hutton.

Although I am impartial as to whether the development goes ahead or not I felt the article was very one sided, and wish to point out a couple of issues.

Firstly, you quoted “19 homes to be built in the shadows of a church where Richard III’s son is buried.”

Out of the 8 protesters bearing banners in the photograph, half of them live in houses which are much closer to the historic church of St. Helen’s than any of the proposed new houses would be.

Secondly there are numerous people in the village who are backing this development which is not mentioned in your article.

It is very clear that nearly all the people against this development were not born and raised in the village, but have moved in from else where, and in my opinion adopted the “NIMBY” attitude. It is OK for them to move to Sheriff Hutton but they don’t want anyone else to.

Whereas all the people in favour of the development are what I call “true locals”, who were born in the village and wish to stay here.

This proposal would offer numerous affordable houses for the young / low paid families who wish to remain in the village they love and not have to leave to find cheaper accommodation elsewhere.

Name and address supplied

 

I BELIEVE that Cllr Reid has a lot of sauce referring to the “self-inflicted pickle” that the Labour council got itself into with the Lendal Bridge fiasco (Letters, August 18).

They had a lot to ketchup with after Mrs Reid’s authorisation of the changing of traffic light sequences to facilitate her daughter’s wedding cortege.

Paul Gledhill, North Lane, Dringhouses, York.