THE NHS tells us that a good percentage of A&E intake at weekends is drink-related. Therefore has the time not come for those persons requiring expensive medical attention, brought about by their own fault, to be suitably charged?

With the general election on the horizon, we should also “explode” the socialist myth that proclaims the NHS to be their “sacred cow” and theirs alone.

Admittedly a Labour government introduced the NHS – thanks to Nye Bevan, a fine statesman in his time, sadly not one current Labour front-bencher deserves to be mentioned in the same breath – but the same NHS has been nurtured and developed to date by successive governments, Conservative or Labour, crucially financed by monies taken from a general public consisting of all political persuasions in the manner of general taxation.

It is also worth pointing out that during the 64 years of its existence, the NHS has been operating under the control of the Tories longer than Labour, so that puts to bed the socialist claim that the NHS is “only safe in their hands”.

Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby.