The Tories have shown that they lack integrity over the past 14 years - Yorkshire Post Letters

The Yorkshire Post’s call for honesty from politicians (22/05/24) with voters might get many cynical responses, substitute integrity and truth for honesty and you could point an accusatory finger after 14 years in one direction.

In 2019, I voted Conservative, the idea of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister was an unacceptable one, so many far left in Cabinet. I voted Leave in 2016 and did not care for the efforts of so many in the Labour party to nullify the referendum result, Yvette Cooper allied herself with former Tory MP Oliver Letwin to do this.

In 2024, we have seen little honesty or integrity from the Conservatives after 14 years in power, we have seen austerity hit the weakest and most frail among us, families having to turn to food banks, families where child poverty is the norm, families where a child goes to school without a breakfast, where older people have to decide eat or heat.

When asked about such the usual Tory response is a hollow one. Voters paying increased mortgage repayments and rents, increased food costs, insurance costs, water costs, might not see the Tories as paragons of honesty and integrity. Excoriation might be nearer the mark.

Chancellor Hunt said that cutting taxes was his aim, rather rich considering how the tax burden has been so high on his watch. Think too of the sewage discharges into the rivers, streams, seas by Yorkshire Water, and no effort to hold them to account. Yorkshire Water seems to seek a 46 per cent increase in payments from users.

Parents, do you like the notion of telling small children why they may not swim or paddle due to the sewage?

A few weeks ago Rishi Sunak decided to make defence and security a major point of his plan to stay in office. I mentioned the austerity brought in by the Tories in 2010 by Cameron and Osborne, they also made deep cuts in the defence and security budgets and continued post-2015 election with Philip Hammond as Chancellor.

Army numbers slashed, Royal Navy ships mothballed or sold, replacement orders cancelled, similar story for new kit and equipment, cancelled, RAF with so few squadrons capable of operations. Perhaps Sunak and Grant Shapps might ponder deploying HMS Belfast!

After 14 years in power I am ready to vote for a change and give the Labour party the chance to rule, it would be a change from the arrogance, lies and conviction that they are above being called to account seen from the Tories. They lost a recent by-election in Blackpool, the reasons why they lost sum up all that is wrong with the Tories.