YP Letters: Election call as there may be trouble ahead

SO Theresa May says that the election will help Brexit negotiations. You’d never think that before the referendum she gave a good speech justifying remaining in the EU, though I didn’t agree with her argument.

Mrs May has clearly looked at the problems ahead. There is rising inflation, stagnant or falling wages, a crisis looming in the National Health Service as GPs and nurses quit, rising socal care needs, the likelihood of a property price crash and underfunded councils closing libraries and other key services. And a worrying international situation.

Within her own party, there are problems over Brexit. They won’t be solved by an election. Negotiations will be harder than expected to secure a decent deal. Even the valiant David Davis is looking distinctly worn already with his EU brief.

No wonder Theresa May wants to win an election before problems worsen and the Opposition gathers strength. Good politics, but please don’t claim principle for it. History will remember this as the ‘cut and run election’.

From: Don Wood, Howden.

IN his letter (The Yorkshire Post, April 19), John Cole says that his MP Philip Davies asked when the Lib Dems were going to remove the word ‘Democrats’ from their party’s title.

Mr Davies is of course correct – the so-called Lib Dems are the most anti-democratic of parties and it is an affront to democracy for them to use the word.

I usually find Mr Cole’s missives to be misinformed and rather tedious in there repetitive nature, however on this occasion I actually burst out laughing when I read that the issue “ requires level-headed and informed persons such as myself”.

This comment is typical of a Lib Dem – Nick Clegg, Tim Farron and Paddy Ashdown all talk in the same vein. They think that a few thousand Lib Dems are the only sane people in the country, which is why they were hammered in the 2015 election and they are not coming back in this one.

One last question to Mr Cole. if Nick Clegg’s referendum on changing the voting system to one which would greatly help the unelectable Lib Dems had been won by them, would it have only been advisory?

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

THERESA May called a general election to put to bed those doubts about her right to run the country. The polls predict a landslide victory for the Conservatives but polls are not always right, as David Cameron found out when he instigated the EU referendum.

There is an old saying “Do not count your chickens before the eggs are hatched”. I, for, one think there will be a few shocks along the way. For instance who would have predicted Alan Johnson’s departure? There was a leader who never was, and he will be a sad loss to both his party and his constituency.

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

THERESA May’s surprise decision to hold a snap election in June will not derail her efforts to lead our nation out of the European Union, but it could ease pressure on her during torturous Brexit negotiations over the next two years.

With the Labour Party opposition in disarray, Mrs May has seized on a strong moment to win her own negotiating mandate from the British people.

She can deal a hammer blow to Labour, which is split by internal divisions over Brexit and she can potentially silence dissent within her own party about any compromises she makes with EU leaders as they divvy up their divorce settlement.

Perhaps most importantly, she can put off the next round of elections until 2022, offering more breathing room for both sides as they rush to complete Brexit negotiations before Britain leaves the European Union in 2019.

Sorry to disappoint you ‘remainers’, Farron and Clegg and their disciples, Brexit will happen, one way or another.

From: Christopher Clapham, Shipley.

ARE the Conservatives clever or mad to call a general election in June? I do not think Labour ever wanted to get involved with Brexit, this would be a disaster – especially as they would be controlled by Nicola Sturgeon who would run rings around Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister, creating chaos at Westminster.

The next few years will be a serious and testing time as we negotiate to leave Europe. The next Government will have to show that it has fully comprehended the message from the British people that was delivered at the referendum. We must not incorporate all the European laws and directives which have been such a disadvantage to British industry while costing billions of pounds to implement into our own law.

From: Jarvis Browning, main Street, Fadmoor, York.

WE’RE not surprised. When will the other politicians learn not to be so selfish and grow up? They were meant to support what we wanted for Brexit, now they have thrown their own spanner!

From: Allen Jenkinson, Lipscomb Street, Milnsbridge, Huddersfield.

THIS isn’t a general election, it’s an attempt to dissolve Parliament, a bit like when Germany voted to do away 
with democracy and handed 
over total control to Hitler and his Nazi party to give their country “a strong right wing government”. Be careful what you vote for, you might get it.

From: DS Boyes, Rodley Lane, Leeds.

A QUESTION for the Labour MPs in Leeds. In the event of a Labour victory – not entirely impossible? – would they refuse to serve as a Minister or Secretary of State under

a Jeremy Corbyn premiership?

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington.

DO we really want to have our television screens transmitting regular broadcasts of the political leaders arguing over their ‘promises’ to the voters?