Here’s how NHS will suffer if there’s a no-deal Brexit – Yorkshire Post Letters

WE are experiencing the worst public health crisis in over a century. The outbreak of Covid-19 has had a tremendous impact on our NHS and our economy, leaving many people vulnerable.

The simple truth is that our NHS cannot cope with the effects of leaving the EU without a trade deal in place and Covid-19 (The Yorkshire Post, June 10).

The discussions with the EU have, as a result of the pandemic, been delayed, and also have to be conducted remotely.

I am, therefore, increasingly concerned that a trade deal will not be finalised, and we will be faced with a no-deal Brexit.

Leaving the EU without a deal would cause:

* Delays in importing medicines and medical equipment, including vital PPE;

* A weakening of the public health response, including the response to pandemics when we leave EU schemes without agreeing to partnerships with crucial EU bodies;

* Disruption of patient care due to the ending of reciprocal healthcare agreements.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund has calculated that leaving without a deal would add a further permanent five per cent loss of GDP to the UK economy, and this is on top of the Office of Budget Responsibility predicting a 35 per cent shrink to the economy in the second quarter because of damage already inflicted by coronavirus. This means thousands of jobs across Yorkshire are at risk of being lost.

Most people in the UK support extending the transition period. But this isn’t about Brexit. It isn’t about who voted Leave or Remain. It is about doing what is in the national interest. We must do what is right for our country in order to protect our economy and our NHS.

Our doctors and nurses are on the front line, fighting this virus everyday. They are risking their lives to protect the public.

We should seek an extension to the Brexit transition period, so we can focus on getting the best deal possible and protecting our front-line workers in the NHS.

Falling apart under scrutiny

From: Peter Brown, Shadwell, Leeds.

CONSERVATIVE ministers and spokespeople afraid to appear on programmes is not evidence of BBC bias – contrary to what Cecil Crinnion (The Yorkshire Post, June 9) suggests.

It is evidence of weak ministers fearful that robust scrutiny will expose how bad they really are. Remember how, before the General Election, the coward Boris Johnson was the only major party leader to skip an interview on The Andrew Neil Show? As a former editor of a Rupert Murdoch newspaper, I doubt Mr Neil’s personal views are typical of an imagined, non-existent anti-Government bias at the BBC. Any politician afraid to appear on his programme should probably find a new career. Conservative politicians especially.

Sadly, Dominic Cummings’ strategy of slogans, Jeremy Corbyn-bashing and media manipulation proved effective in delivering election victory for the Tories – and a British government that avoids or falls apart under scrutiny. But that’s not the BBC’s fault.

From: IL Richardson, Railway Street, Beverley.

CLEARLY Covid-19 does not respond well to slogans.

As the UK joins the USA in the big league of virus deaths, it strikes me that the political language of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson carries little weight when it comes to managing this powerful foe.

Whether it be ‘build the wall’, ‘lock her up’, ‘take back control’ or ‘get Brexit done’, governance on both sides of the Atlantic had already descended into a series of duplicitous, essentially meaningless, slogans.

Now, when both nations desperately need intelligent, measured approaches, we have been left with two incompetent leaders, hurling slogans and clichés at the coronavirus.

Both these once great countries seem to me to be in very deep holes. Even more tragically, the President and Prime Minister keep on digging.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor