April 23: Political minnows deserve our election support – not the two guilty parties

ALTERNATE Conservative and Labour governments over 30 years brought us almost financial ruin with a national debt equal to every man woman and child owing £25,000 (not to mention personal debt and mortgages) – worse than most other industrialised nations, despite billions in North Sea oil revenue.

To many, the decline and asset stripping of our country began when the Conservatives turned from manufacturing in the ’80s to the clever trick of selling to the people what they already own, from council houses to the railways at knock-down prices.

Our utilities and infrastructure snapped up by foreign governments, then of course the Big Bang in the City of London set free the greed and the “loads of money culture” that was to blow up in our faces many years later, helped along by Gordon Brown’s “light touch” regulation.

The Conservatives found that it is easier to win elections when you’re giving away money. That lesson wasn’t lost on Labour who continued to hold up our treasures for auction; even our gold reserves were plundered and the big snouts had a real feast. Our overseas ventures by Tony Blair cost billions with lives destroyed. As the silver spoons ran low Labour became addicted to borrowing, hawking our children’s future with PFI deals. The bubble inevitably burst but of course the bankers are blamed rather than the governments we trusted to have proper oversight.

Is it funny or just tragic that once again most votes will be cast for the two parties guilty of creating the mess we are in. There are many other options – Ukip clearly resonate a point of view. The Liberal Democrats get little credit for bringing sense and stability to government and the Greens push on with idealistic goals. These, amongst others, may really deserve support on May 7.

From: ME Wright, Grove Road, Harrogate.

NICK Clegg commits to the HS2 rail line and “supporting” new tram systems (The Yorkshire Post, April 16).

Governments of every stripe have been mouthing this support for the last 30 years, but in only a handful of cities has this verbal largesse turned into funding.

Here, we have the prospect of an Alice in Wonderland situation, whereby passengers streak from London to Leeds on HS2, only to find their journey being completed by juddering back to the 1960s on an all-bus system.

While Mr Clegg’s words are welcome, they need to be in the form of a large cheque.