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Wednesday's letters: Labour to blame for BNP's European victories
From: Terry Duncan, Graeme Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire. HOWEVER abhorrent it has been to let the BNP get a foothold in UK and European politics, the blame must be laid firmly at the door of the Labour Government, which is perceived in this time of high unemployment, to have allowed mass, uncontrolled immigration.
From: John Watson, Hutton Hill, Leyburn.
WHILE watching the election results on Sunday night, I was surprised by the adverse and insulting comments by the so-called pundits when talking about the BNP winning a seat in Yorkshire.
We know it is not a satisfactory result but probably no more shocking than communists being elected in the '40s and '50s.
I just wish that some of these "holier than thou" MPs would get off their soapboxes and go and ask the people in West Yorkshire why they voted for such an extreme party.
A few months ago I watched a documentary on the BBC about life in this part of the world. The locals were absolutely fed up because the politicians would not listen to their grievances.
From: Stephen Swift, Leeds.
DEAR people of Yorkshire and Humber, I am very sorry for not voting on Thursday. If I did, perhaps I could have helped to keep the fascist party out of Europe. I vow never to abstain from voting again. It is my fault. Please forgive me.
From: JD Clark, Burnsall.
THE lack of a sensible immigration policy has contributed to the BNP obtaining 10 per cent of the vote in Yorkshire and Humberside, resulting in the election of an MEP from that party. The Government must take all the blame for this.
They have so much for which to answer. Extremism is not what the British traditionally stand for.
From: Jon Stones, Wood Lane, Rothwell, Leeds.
I AM shocked and disgusted that we will have a member of the vile BNP representing us at the European Parliament.
The BNP peddle the politics of hate, plain and simple.
From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.
WHO would have believed Barnsley would turn to the BNP instead of New Labour?
The simple answer is people's frustration regarding the EU, immigration, crime, and the PC mentality of the status quo parties who have ignored all of these issues.
Maybe if the status quo parties believed in the electorate instead of themselves and started to give the electorate what they wanted and not what these MPs want personally, then just perhaps there would be no need for "horrid fascist" parties like the BNP.
From: T Askew, Kendal Drive, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Rotherham.
THE latest elections show just how dissatisfied people are with the main political parties. There are no statesmen that I can think of in either the Labour or Tory parties who people could have trust and confidence in to change this situation.
Where have all the statesmen gone?
From: Robert Bottamley, Thorn Road, Hedon, East Yorkshire.
REGRETTABLY, we have grown accustomed to how this Government redefines words to mean whatever Ministers would have them mean.
It was suggested to Harriet Harman that the results of recent local and European ballots provided clear evidence that the British public wanted Brown and his Government to go.
This suggestion, Ms Harman simply rejected; what the results really showed (she insisted) was that people wanted the present Government to sort out everything.
So, there you have it. According to Harriet Harman, when you choose a candidate at the next General Election, you don't actually want that candidate at all – (unless, of course, they happen to represent New Labour).
From: PH Green, West End Avenue, Harrogate.
HAVING just gone through the farce of putting our crosses against the names of MPs who purport to represent our interests in Parliament, I fellto thinking of how we can possibly expect our views to be raised with sufficient force and vigour in "The Mother of Parliaments".
As I tossed various ideas about for achieving this, it suddenly became clear to me that we haven't a cat in hell's chance of achieving this. Why?
The MPs don't work to support the wishes of we poor civilians who blindly voted them in. Oh, no. They do as they are told by the Whips' office.
A mistake carved into history
From: Phil Moon, Addingham, near Ilkley.
PLEASE thank Andrew Vine for a very moving article on the "modest heroes" of D-Day (Yorkshire Post, June 5) and I must agree with his comments relating to so little to be proud of these days.
I am now 78 but I will remember June 6, 1944, as long as I live. I was 13 and a pupil at Holy Trinity Boys' School, in Wakefield, which was a church school.
I and a group of friends were in the playground at the side of the church and, at about 8.45am, a school friend, nicknamed "Bud Abbott", came up and said that they have just given it out on the wireless that allied forces have invaded Norway.
I was close to a stone buttress of the church which formed a little recess, and I promptly nipped out a penknife and carved into the inside face of the buttress: "Today, the 6th June 1944, Allied Forces Invaded Norway."
Later in the day, the error of "Bud", and my actions, became apparent, but the error was never corrected on the buttress, and, for many years, the above remained on the church buttress hidden from view.
But as the church has been demolished some years
ago, I can now live with my mistake.
The French complexion
From: AW Briglin, Sefton Street, Hull.
THE French are an ungrateful lot.
Britain's stand against Nazi Germany was a major factor in their liberation, and yet they hadn't the manners to invite the Queen to the D-Day celebrations.
What I find peculiar about them is the way they revere their own megalomaniac, Napoleon. They have named streets and buildings after his victories and they have his ashes under the dome of the Invalides building, in Paris, yet this is the man who, in my view, caused more pain and death to the French people than they would care to admit.
He didn't give a toss about his "children", as he called his soldiers. They were just cannon fodder to be used to further his ambition to conquer all Europe. Just like Hitler.
I don't think they have ever forgiven us for beating the daylights out of their hero.
Fight against fluoridation
From: Miss P Johnson, Cross Flatts Grove, Leeds.
PLANS to add fluoride to our water supply are very alarming (Yorkshire Post, May 30). A feasibility study is the forerunner of a consultation. Strategic health authorities cannot be trusted to run a fair consultation.
There is something wrong with our democracy when 72 per cent of 10,000 people in Southampton and Hampshire County Council oppose fluoridation, yet South Central Strategic Health Authority plan to go ahead with it. It is running roughshod over the majority of the population.
Fluoridation is also being strongly opposed in Manchester. Do the pro-fluoridation lobby think that Yorkshire and Humberside will be an easier target?
The then Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, last year urged all parts of the country to consider fluoridation. I hope the Labour Party does not elect him as leader. The prospect of him becoming Prime Minister would be frightening.
The causes of tooth decay in children are eating too many sweets and sugary foods, poor diet, drinking fizzy drinks and lack of dental hygiene, not insufficient fluoride. Parents need to take responsibility. An unhealthy diet also leads to obesity and diabetes. The answer is education, education, education.
Fluoridation is mass medication, which is a violation of human rights. A chemical should not be added to the water supply if it is not needed for purification. The draconian clause that gives the unelected, unaccountable strategic health authorities power to force water companies to add fluoride, should be removed from the Water Act.
From: J Horner, The Wells Walk, Ilkley.
AN obvious solution to the fluoride question (Yorkshire Posts, June 3), would be to add fluoride to every school water supply, and hence target the school population and not the entire population of this country.
Riding roughshod over the boundaries of Yorkshire
From: Mrs Hilary Holt, Executive Committee, Yorkshire Ridings Society, Fenwick Lane, Fenwick, Doncaster.
MALCOLM Barker is wise to be dubious about the advertising campaign of Welcome to Yorkshire (Yorkshire Post, May 23). There is no definition of where Yorkshire is.
The campaign is financed by Yorkshire Forward – the Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire and Humber. This agency covers a large region stretching as far south as Brigg, in Lincolnshire, but not including large areas of Yorkshire.
Mr Barker need not worry, therefore, that "the astonishing diversity of the Ridings" will be a problem. The agency ignores the true historical and geographical Yorkshire of the three Ridings. It is rather misleading to use Yorkshire as a marketing label for the agency's economic region.
While true Yorkshire folk, renowned for generosity, may tolerate northern Lincolnshire as a hanger-on – basking in reflected glory – they may well question the exclusion of those areas which are, according to the agency, "not in Yorkshire".
Paul Kirkwood's cycle ride "over the border to find Yorkshire's missing piece" (Yorkshire Post, May 2), describes this confusing situation. The "border" is Staithes beck, boundary of Yorkshire and Humber region. It is not true that you leave Yorkshire as you cross Staithes beck – you continue to be in Yorkshire's North Riding, which has never been abolished.
Welcome to Yorkshire is funded to promote a so-called Yorkshire bereft of the seaside splendours of Saltburn and Redcar; the world-famous Middlesbrough; Hannah Hauxwell's upper Teesdale; Dent and Sedbergh and Bowland and West Craven. There is no money for these Yorkshire places – though Yorkshire Forward has money for northern Lincolnshire.
The discerning tourist may well question whether this is a "Yorkshire" fit for purpose. It is difficult to establish what exactly is being "sold". A marketing brand image "Yorkshire," separated from its location and heritage, has lost its integrity.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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