HOW very un-Christian of the Rev Perry to spew his vitriol and self righteousness all over so called baby boomers . Whatever his denomination he would do well to recall the words of Jesus Christ, when he spoke of not judging lest ye be judged also . H

HOW very un-Christian of the Rev Perry to spew his vitriol and self righteousness all over so called 'baby boomers'.

Whatever his denomination he would do well to recall the words of Jesus Christ, when he spoke of not judging 'lest ye be judged also'.

Here comes my judgment of such a shameful attitude towards this particular group of people.

Presumably you are an educated man, so how can you make such bigoted and ignorant generalisations? How do you know what such people do and have done in their lives?

How do you know what pensions they receive? For example, I worked an average of 80 hours per week for 25 years, for 40 hours pay. This left me burned out. Five of those years were spent working with heroin addicts in the black ghettos of Washington, DC. For 18 months of that time I worked every night and weekends gratis while holding down a full-time job. Believe me, slavery to heroin, by kids as young as eight all the way up to people in their seventies, was rampant and very real. The poverty was unbelievable in the most powerful nation in the world.

No full state pension because of those 10 years working in the US, and the pension to which I contributed here has paid me a quarter of what it was supposed to be. £4,000 per annum, hardly makes me 'wealthy' does it? Selfish? Perhaps, but I do my bit in my own way.

I am passionate about all manner of things, including what's happening to my country; a country for which all the men in my family fought. I am concerned about the environment and the erosion of our countryside. Thanks to this Government there is building everywhere because of an alleged local demand. If this is true, how come all the key worker housing in Soham stands empty?

How come local first-time buyers still can't get on the property ladder? I tell you why reverend, most of the lower priced homes are being purchased by greedy investors who buy en-masse; many of whom live overseas. Many of the higher-priced homes are bought by incomers; hardly serving local need is it?

Multiplex is an Australian company; Australia has three million square miles, the UK has 93,000. So why doesn't it develop over there? I tell you why, this country is a soft touch. England is around 50,000 square miles and about the third most populated country in the world with just under 1,000 people per square mile. Scotland, for example, has around 126 per square mile.

We have serious environmental problems and cramming more and more people into our small island is sheer lunacy. We have neither the infrastructure or resources to cope. Why not remonstrate with Multiplex about abusing our agricultural land for the sake of greed? Your anger might be better spent demanding that under populated countries, such as Australia, do their bit.

Many older people are unable to attend rallies for health reasons, but if you genuinely wanted us to do so, you have gone the wrong way about encouraging our attendance

In fact it is mainly the young who insist on the foreign holidays and fuel guzzling Chelsea tractors, so I suggest you direct your ire at them instead.

Little wonder there is so little respect for the elderly in the UK when even a so called man of God berates us in such a generalised fashion.

If you are C of E you probably live in a nice detached home, have a guaranteed job and good pension at the end of it. People in glass houses...

DM DONALD

Soham

By email

WHO is the Rev Dr Simon Perry? (Letters October 11).

He is entitled to have an opinion on anything he chooses, as indeed are the rest of the population but to express it with such venom is unbecoming of a man who preaches 'love thy neighbour'! I do not know which denomination he represents, but sincerely hope it is not The Anglican Church, with its massive property portfolio.

One has to also consider whether he is living in provided accommodation but owning another property elsewhere, or simply in a nice house in a lovely village. I wonder, does he have to travel on the already congested roads in the morning, or just stroll to his place of work?

The people who live in Haddenham, Wilburton and Stretham have either grown up in the area or chosen to live in a village, not a town. I am perfectly sure that the population of the three villages concerned is made up of all age groups and not just the 'baby boomers', he is keen to put down. I wonder how many of his 'flock' are in the accused age range, indeed, how many of his fellow clergy?

Reverend Perry will doubtless be a part of upcoming Remembrance Sunday services where many would-be 'baby boomers' will be remembered for giving their lives. Maybe, just maybe, he might reflect on his 50-60 year old parishioners who have suffered through their lives and are only now finding peace and happiness through living in a lovely part of Gods' world.

Incidentally, I don't live in any of the villages but can see the stupidity of building 1,000's of houses when the infrastructure is struggling to cope now.

Just who is Rev Perry representing, his church, his parishioners or Multiplex, the developers? Whoever it is, he should learn some humility.

ALAN WARNER

Fairfield

Sutton

WHILST not being a member of that group myself, I feel I must defend the Baby Boomers (Letters, October 11) and their right to 'comfort'. In his letter, Dr Simon Perry makes a simplistic and flawed assumption, specifically that people only care about one thing at a time. That somehow, because people are opposed to the development at Mereham, they are not able to care about other issues on both the local, national and world levels. Stereotyping a group of individuals simply because they were born in the 20-year period immediately after the war falls into the trap of all stereotypes: that whilst the label is convenient for soap-box politics it does a great disservice to the individuals in that group.

If Dr Perry took the trouble to get to know the protestors he would find that many of them are concerned about the wider issues our world faces and are trying to do something about it. If he further feels the need to question the beliefs of a group which represents, as he puts it, the 'unwitting self-centred triviality of middle aged, middle class, middle England' then perhaps he should ask what leadership the Church was giving to these people in their formative years? Just what was it doing to provide them with a balanced 'cultural programming'?

BRIAN FAIRCHILD

Station Road

Haddenham