Why I believe Theresa May is a political failure – Yorkshire Post letters

THERESA May has proved herself to be a bigger failure as Prime Minister than she was as Home Secretary.

She should never have taken on the job of taking us out of the EU as she never believed in Brexit.

Being PM was just an ego trip for her, but an embarrassing mistake which has cost the country and the Conservatives dearly.

Apart from the Brexit fiasco, she has continued throwing away billions of taxpayers money on overseas aid which is now almost £15bn per year, and rising, because she refused to change the 0.3 per cent of GDP which Cameron made an act of Parliament.

Then there was the ridiculous HS2, the vanity project which nobody wants, and now the £50m loan requested by British Steel has been turned down because it is against EU law.

Why were we allowed to bail out the banks with billions of taxpayers’ money? We still had the same rules then.

We need a complete change in the next PM. Someone who will put Britain first, not last.

From: Richard Kimble, Leeds.

COULD someone please explain to Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson – in fact, all Tory MPs –- that freedom of speech does not mean that you can say what you like, about who or what you like, in whatever way you like with impunity?

Freedom of speech also carries with it the concepts of responsibility and accountability.

You cannot tell lies in a political campaign, as Mr Rees-Mogg implied, to garner votes and get away with it legally.

It’s fraud and it’s against the law. He implies it is perfectly acceptable but it is not.

You are accountable, and Mr Johnson should be challenged in court over claims made during the 2016 EU referendum and be punished, if found guilty, of said fraud. And about time, too.

Spend wisely on health

From: Dr Peter English, Chair, BMA Public Health Medicine Committee.

THE BMA believes that decreasing spending and reducing the provision of sexual health services will lead to poorer health in the population.

The fragmented and unco-ordinated way in which these services are currently commissioned means that across the country people, many of whom are vulnerable and disadvantaged, are not getting access to the care they need.

The recent issue surrounding Capita and letters to patients about cervical smear tests is a good example of this. The BMA is clear that there should be national quality standards that give a consistent standard and provision of care throughout the country so that people are not disadvantaged by where they live.

We urge the Government to reverse cuts to public health funding, and to make sufficient funding available to ensure that sexual health services can meet health needs.

There should be greater recognition of the evidence that prevention and early intervention is cost-effective. As the committee has highlighted, inadequate prevention and a lack of early intervention can come at a huge price to the NHS. The BMA has repeatedly urged the Government to heed such concerns and make a commitment to increased and sustained funding for public health services.

We welcome the Minister’s indication that prevention in sexual health will be a central part of the prevention Green Paper and expect this commitment to be followed through with tangible action.

Now lets ditch tacky soaps

From: Tim Bradshaw, Slaithwaite.

THANK heavens the Jeremy Kyle Show is gone (John Riseley, The Yorkshire Post, May 31). Perhaps we can also include most of the TV soaps which include shouting, violence, murders, adultery etc, which some people think are normal, but why do we need to promote so much irrelevant information?

This should also include various breakfast TV shows whose “presenters” think that they are the only ones whose opinions are correct and will not allow others to talk.

Volunteers are let down

From: Matthew Smith, Hillsborough, Sheffield.

THIS is Volunteers Week which celebrates the good work done by volunteers, and the positive benefits for volunteers.

It is perhaps fitting that we remember, in National Volunteers Week, the fact that Sheffield Council dumped the running of 16 libraries on volunteers back in 2014-16, leaving 16 library sites across the city devoid of a professionally staffed library service.

That’s 16 library sites with no professional library staff to help people struggling with Universal Credit, and young people having to rely on cliques of volunteers for advice. Neighbouring Leeds has suffered similar cuts in funding to Sheffield, yet its library service still has over 30 professionally-staffed libraries, many of which are open Sundays.

The issue is not, therefore, austerity, but that libraries are still not deemed a big enough priority in Sheffield.

Convert our old buildings

From: Richard Walkin, Otley.

WHY not convert empty council buildings in Otley – and elsewhere – into flats or apartments which could be sold and become loved buildings once again? There are so many empty old council buildings in Otley alone and, likely many of these type of buildings around the country, they are being left in a neglected state until they become unusable.

Come on you councillors, please look inwards at your own, unloved properties.