As a widowed pensioner aged 92, I feel bound to comment on two items in the news this week.

Involvement with Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years is still questioned by many and the final withdrawal of British forces is generally welcomed.

But the Chilton Iraq Inquiry is not yet completed and we do not know whether the British Government are guilty or not of being regarded as war criminals.

No boots on the ground is the Western view in the latest dispute but limited air strikes are approved.

The Turkish PM says with sound logic, in my opinion, that if the West will not allow their nations boots on the borders involved, to sort out the Islamic State mess, then why should Turkey alone do this for them?

On the Lloyds Bank shambles I can only say that my invalid wife and I lost about £300,000 because Brown and Darling merged HBOS in January 2009 with Lloyds, swapped our ISA joint 44.000 HBOS shares for about 27,000 Lloyds shares at a disgraceful rate of exchange 0.65.

Why should HBOS CEO Sir James Moody and his successor Andy Hornby, not be punished (instead of being rewarded by extra benefits and pensions) when their HBOS share price collapsed from £11.67 per share at one time? The merger made our joint holding in ISAs valued at a small fraction of their previous value and with no prospect now or since of any dividends.

We had invested over £344,000 to buy 44,000 HBOS shares with excellent dividend income and this had included lump sums resulting from the death of our parents.

I cannot foresee any improvement whatever in Lloyds share price or any hope of any future dividends. A fair and transparent society?

Jim Wright

Gibson Close

Abingdon

 

Today’s letters

 

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