AS reported in The Press (September 12), Tories have extended the badger cull to Devon, Wiltshire, Dorset, Cheshire, and Somerset.

The Tories and their backers the NFU want to slaughter another 33,000 badgers. It’s well known the Tories have a long record of appeasing the NFU.

TB is also caused by the spreading of slurry on fields.

There is a case of TB infection the Tories have kept quiet about since December.

Kimblewick Hunt have had to put to sleep 25 fox hounds which have TB.

Another 120 are undergoing tests. Farmers local to Kimblewick kennels have banned the hunt from their lands.

Scotland has been free of TB since 2009 and Wales is demonstrating how to control it and it’s not by mass slaughter.

Ireland killed every badger they could find, they killed more than they thought they had. Guess what, it failed.

They are now vaccinating.

D Fillingham, The Crossway, Muncaster, York

Is Vince dreaming with PM ambitions?

VINCE Cable says that it is ‘really possible that he could become next Prime Minister’.

As a leader of 12 MPs out of 650, it would be a shame to awaken an old man from his dreams.

Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby

Shortage of beds, and staff are so busy

I WAS a patient in Ward 14 York District Hospital on July 2, 2017 for an investigation to see if I had cancer. I went in for CT scans and was discharged on July 14. I am now awaiting the news.

There was a shortage of beds and accommodation was very much in short supply.

Staff have very busy work schedules. Cleaners do a good job, keeping the out-ofdate toilets and bathrooms clean.

The nurses, sisters and all staff were angels who worked so hard.

B Pettitt, Rosemary Place, Navigation Road, York

Praise for NHS staff, despite pressures

AS BORIS again draws attention to the question of Government chronic underfunding of the NHS, I should like to register my appreciation of this service.

The level of professional efficiency, friendliness, courtesy and consideration offered by all staff at York Hospital’s endoscopy department on the morning of September 19 really surprised me given the current pressure upon the NHS for whose professionals it is people who matter.

Thank you.

David Cragg-James, Rose Cottage, Stonegrave

Corbyn ‘now adept at doing U-turns’

IN HIS first televised interview after the general election Jeremy Corbyn stated that whatever political decisions Theresa May made he would get his party to vote against her.

Obviously this is for political gain and not for the good of the country.

He has always been against the EU. Now he flip flops from no single market and no freedom of movement to the opposite.

He’s become quite adept at doing U-turns. The EU say we are dragging our feet. No we are not. But they are.

They will not proceed until we agree to pay an extortionate bill that we do not owe.

They know the longer they drag this out the more money they can extract from us and a chance that they can stop Brexit completely.

Now they have resorted to name-calling. This says more about them than their targets.

Confident people do not stoop to this level. They know we are not the only country wanting out. We were fortunate to get a referendum.

I am astonished at the traitorous behaviour of some of our own citizens believing the EU’s rhetoric over our own politicians in a matter so important to our country.

With regard to Jeremy Corbyn and EU bureaucrats, think playground bullies and remember that empty vessels make the most noise.

Pam Middleton, Fulford Road, York