Costly £120m Unboxed festival is a symbol of Brexit's failures: Yorkshire Post Letters

Regarding King Charles III’s coronation, shorten the ceremony by all means, but keep the pomp and the lord’s robes etc.

Yes, the late Queen’s coronation lasted three or four hours but she was a young woman in her twenties; King Charles and his wife are both in their seventies, as are some of his family and senior officials who would have to be there for the duration.

Speaking as someone who’s in his late sixties I know that there are certain things you can’t do at that age that you could in your twenties, and one of them is sitting and standing about for hours on end without a comfort break.

So give the old folk a break, plenty of ceremonial extravaganza but a shorter timescale.

Robert Booth, Quarry Bank Mill, Longwood, Huddersfield.

I really do enjoy Peter Hyde’s regular contributions, but sometimes he really does baffle me.

He recently gave the big thumbs down to contact sports such as rugby and boxing,

Then in letters (October 11) he is advocating corporal punishment for todays youth. I suffered from that experience at school In the sixties, did it make me a better person? Absolutely not! It hurt and made me angry against society,

Adults metering out physical punishment that they think is appropriate on young people, is nothing short of archaic.

Richard Wilson, Chair, Leeds for Europe, Roundhay, Leeds.

It’s proven ridiculously expensive but the £120m so-called-“Festival of Brexit” serves symbolically as a pretty good representation of Brexit itself (front page, The Yorkshire Post, October 11).

An all-party parliamentary committee is asking the National Audit Office spending watchdog to investigate “how so much taxpayer money could be frittered away for so little return”.

Brexit is a project on which far more millions of our money is being wasted and trade losses totalling billions of pounds incurred, only to see much of Britain’s international credibility destroyed. A bit like the Festival which shares its name, an awful lot has been squandered for no return.

Another big no-surprise is that one of the main backers of “Unboxed” – the festival’s official name - was arch-Brexiter and waster of taxpayers’ money Jacob Rees-Mogg MP.

You have a handful of regular letter writers still willing to make increasingly desperate excuses for Brexit. Have any of them bothered to visit an “Unboxed” installation, I wonder?

If any have, they’ll represent an even tinier minority of the population than Brexit apologists. You report that “Unboxed” had attracted only 238,000 visitors up to August – a tiny fraction of its 66m target.

“Unboxed” events are almost over. For example, one created by Leeds creative studio Newsubstance and based on an old offshore oil platform at Weston-Super-Mare (Artists think big with North Sea rig installation, The Yorkshire Post, September 23) is due to close on November 5, according to the festival’s website.

Susan Waterhouse, Bolehill Park, Hove Edge, Brighouse.

I was interested to read the letter from Roger Backhouse. From what I remember, the Comprehensive school system in Leicestershire was a success because schools were divided into first and middle with children not being selected at 11 years of age, but transferring at 13 years like some public schools. This system was copied by other authorities but was found to be more expensive than the transfer age of 11 years. I am sure a number of primary school teachers will tell you that for some children 13 years of age gives time for maturing and learning basic skills.

Myrna Chave, PO Box 91, Virginia Water, Surrey, England GU25 9AR.

I am appealing for used postage stamps which help me raise funds which I then donate to the Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Recycling used postage stamps is such an easy way to raise money for the charity and I am always in need of all types of postage stamps, including British, Foreign and Christmas stamps.

If you are able to help I would be grateful if you could cut the stamps from their envelopes (leaving approx 1cm margin around the stamp) and send them to the address above.

Peter Hyde, Driffield.

I have little sympathy with the current wave of strikers. The country is already suffering because of the war in Ukraine which is causing rising prices. The summer drought affected some farm products to increase in price. The pensioners have no means of demanding an increase in their pensions and most of the sick people have nowhere else to turn to other than the NHS.

What happened to the ‘Muck in and help others worse off that yourself’ that was prevalent during WW2.

Now it’s all Me Me Me, shame on you all.