I WOULD like to start by saying I like Arsene Wenger and it was nice to hear that Fifa president Gianni Infantino has given him the position of chief of global football development – good luck Arsene in your new venture.

What I was very concerned about was that London Palladium hosted An Audience With Arsene Wenger allowing 1000 fans into the event. Photos in various papers showed there was hardly an empty seat in the house, fans were heard chanting football chants and certainly no-one was paying any attention to the coronavirus regulations.

Can someone therefore tell me why 1000 football fans can sit close together in a theatre but are not allowed to sit in an open-air football stadium adhering to all the rules and regulations that are asked of them?

Why is it some people have to follow all the rules asked of them while others are allowed to abuse them and are not held to account? Totally unfair.

EK  
Crookston

SO, the BBC and ITV have created a new channel – “BritBox”. I assume that the BBC used money collected via the licence fee, so why do we licence fee payers have to pay again? Or maybe it’s profits made on the back of the licence fee and they have to, shall we say, disperse them around.

Honestly, we in this United Kingdom need to wake up and smell the coffee – not only do the BBC repeat and repeat programmes to death and pay these so-called stars (BBC Breakfast news readers) vast amounts of money, but now, in effect using our money, they have created a new channel called BritBox which we have to pay for, again.

Glasgow Times: BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker

Now, in the past, I was a supporter of the BBC, because they were keeping these pay-for-view channels at bay, but no more, they now want to fleece the TV licence fee payer for more money as it turns out that if you want to watch BritBox then you have to pay, again.

I say to our politicians and the BBC: we the licence fee payers are getting fed up with this garbage. 

And no doubt the BBC will say they are using the extra money conned out OF the licence fee payers to make better programmes ... well, I say: “Pull the other one, it has bells on it.”

Jim Tees
Via email

I DO not see any reports of the gathering movement of people refusing to pay for a TV licence.

There are several sites on Facebook with thousands of members. I would ask older people who have lost their free licence to join us. You can refuse entry to anyone from Capita who comes calling. The government arbitrarily took the free licence so they can take the funding from the BBC just as quickly. Please do not pay!

William Allan
Glasgow

AS we all know, an important football match is being played this weekend. 

As the pubs and clubs throughout the country will be closed there will be thousands of house parties and even more individuals going to the homes of friends and family to watch the game.

Could the Scottish Government approach Sky, perhaps with a financial sweetener, to waive their exclusive rights to show the match, thus allowing a terrestrial channel to transmit it simultaneously? This would greatly increase the amount of fans staying at home. 

Yes, they would miss the banter of “who’s the Fellow/Mason in the black” or “he couldn’t score in an episode of Bullseye” or “oor manager’s a tumshie wi’ that team selection”. It would encourage more homely football discussions – although in our household my partner’s a Partick Thistle supporter therefore she knows nothing about football! I jest, I jest.

Donnie Gillies
Via email

I GOT mine no problem (‘A national scandal’: Fury as over 65s face major delay for flu jab). 

My local surgery in the East End of Glasgow text me and my wife and we got an appointment two days later and got the jag. It seems to be depending on area. Neither of us are over 65 but we do both have underlying health conditions.

Paul Farrow
Glasgow