The Socialist inbox

The Socialist inbox: letters to the editors, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)

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Send your news, views and criticism in not more than 150 words to Socialist Postbox, PO Box 24697, London E11 1YD, phone 020 8988 8771 or email [email protected]

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Views of letter writers do not necessarily match those of the Socialist Party.

Stock answer

A quote from an Australian market strategist earlier this month - I thought it was funny: "Everyone is just running for the hills because nobody actually knows what is causing this move."

Pete Watson, Nottingham

(Click to enlarge)

Course cruelty

I have long been campaigning for the whip to be removed in horse racing, whereby jockeys lash the horses to make them run faster or harder.

That was partially successful where they have been limited in the number of times they can hit a horse.

Of course, that has been shown to not really work, jockeys continue to hit and are then fined or banned.

You only have to think of how sensitive a horse's skin is when they feel a fly land on them to realise how much it must hurt.

The other major issue is the number of horse deaths on the race courses. A tally has been kept since 2007 and, despite talk about increasing safety on the courses, more horses are dying every year.

No horse has the choice whether to run or not, even though every race could be their last, and I think it is safe to say that if the jockeys died in the numbers that horses do then racing would be outlawed.

A total of 1,649 deaths have now been recorded out of 3,994 days of racing, with more than 1,500 in the ten years up to 2017.

Living near Cheltenham race course, which has the worst death rate of any around the country, brings it home all the more - as the posters say: "You bet, they die." Racing is not natural - these horses have been specifically bred to go faster.

Ruthie McNally, Malvern

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.

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