YP Letters: Lessons from James Goldsmith's EU refernedum campaign

All those who declare that they do not know enough about our European involvement to vote sensibly in a referendum need to read the late Sir James Goldsmith’s books The Trap and particularly The Response published in Britain in 1994-95.

Sir James founded the Referendum Party (later the pressure group the Democracy Movement) and this single issue party received nearly one million votes (three per cent of the vote) in the General Election of 1997.

The question which the party for which I worked proposed was “Do you want the United Kingdom to be part of a federal Europe or do you want the UK to return to an association of sovereign nations that are part of a common trading market?”

Nearly two decades later, the situation has not been resolved even though it should not be a party political matter. Why the delay? We shall all be very surprised indeed if the Prime Minister’s negotiations, worthy though they may be, yield dividends.

Ways to fight the floods

From: Dr Glyn Powell, Kellington, Goole.

WHILE I agree with the need for a new canal to alleviate flooding in the Vale of York, as advocated by John Simpson (The Yorkshire Post, February 10), there are also several other measures that require immediate implementation.

Government encouragement of property developers to build on flood plains must cease – floods plains are nature’s way of alleviating flooding. Planning legislation must be introduced that bans any development on such land.

Secondly, the authorities must ensure that both rivers and canals are regularly dredged to maintain the maximum volume capacity of all local waterways. Dredging should also be regularly carried out by farmers on dykes constructed to drain their land.

Back British butchers

From: Ken Holmes, Cliffe Common, Selby.

WITHOUT a shadow of a doubt, some of the most tolerant and hard-working business members of our society are family butchers.

They have to compete with many supermarkets who are prepared to buy and sell cheap foreign imported meats, not giving a jot of how it was reared and where from.

Butchers deserve better support from us Brits – there isn’t all that great a difference in price and in my long life’s experience cheapest is very often far from the best.

So let’s all remember without farmers there would be no local butchers and without local butchers there would be a big shortage of stock farmers. I, for one, will buy locally sourced meat.

A pause for thought

From: Peter Hyde, Kendale View, Driffield.

IT is clear that the decline of Christian Church attendance has had an effect on the behaviour of many young people. We were compelled to attend services and Sunday School and, as youngsters, the difference between right and wrong was deeply embedded in our hearts and minds.

Sunday was a day of rest, when we had time to unwind and relax. In our household this was rigidly enforced by Mum, a Methodist. Canon Storey (The Yorkshire Post, February 12) is so right when he says we need a Sabbath to take stock of our lives.

Shopping and football have become the new religion and the time of rest and reflection has given way to the continued hurly-burly of every day life. The best way to live is to try to take a space to think and consider where your life is going. Sunday used to be that very space and time. Alas no longer.

Meaning of the Ridings

From: Joan M Green, Easingwold.

I AGREE with Jerry Holland’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, February 10) regarding the article by Ben Barnett in Country Week (February 6).There never was a South Riding, it only existed in the fictional writing of Winifred Holtby. I was, however, under the impression that the term Riding meant a third, hence North, East and West Ridings.

Biscuit shortage

From: John Springer, Ingbirchworth, Penistone.

I THINK David Walls (The Yorkshire Post, February 12) might find the answer to his question about the shortage of custard creams and Bourbon biscuits if he looks at what happened during the recent floods to the factories producing almost all those sold in this country. I gather the factories will need the same total rebuild as do some Yorkshire bridges.

From: Lesley Burrow, Wilberfoss.

YOUR recent correspondent laments the disappearance of custard and Bourbon creams from the supermarket shelves. The world’s best ginger nuts have not been spotted in the East Riding for several weeks. What’s going on?