AT a time when the government is struggling to “balance the books”, Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced in his Autumn Statement that £7.6 million of public funds will be used to “save Wentworth Woodhouse, a stately home near Rotherham”.
This at a time when Airedale Hospital is making 27 members of staff redundant – Hospital staff to be made redundant (Keighley News, November 24).
Mr Hammond stated that “Wentworth Woodhouse is one of the UK’s most important historic houses”.
Surely, if members of the public consider this property important, they would subscribe to a fund aimed at its preservation as people subscribe to save National Trust properties?
While I agree some aspects of our historic heritage are worth keeping, I would prefer that public funds be used for the upkeep of essential services, such as the NHS, which strives to preserve lives.
PAMELA SPENCER-CAIRNS Woodhouse Road Keighley
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