A Government that has lost its way on too many vital issues

IT is increasingly obvious that the Government has lost its way, with weekly examples of Ministers making foolish, out of touch statements.

Following on from the fuel shortage debacle and George Osborne not knowing that the very wealthy avoided all but 10 per cent of tax, we have the Home Secretary (Theresa May) failing to check dates that result not only in alleged terrorist Abu Qatada not being deported, but also leaving taxpayers liable to pay hefty compensation should Qatada sue the Government for wrongful arrest.

Such regular clangers aren’t only costing the country millions but also clearly demonstrate the gross incompetence of this disastrous regime.

However, of ever more concern is the dreadful news that well over 100,000 youngsters will be denied free school meals due to draconian benefit changes. Free school meals were originally introduced in Bradford in 1904 by Independent Labour councillors led by Fred Jowett, to ensure youngsters from deprived backgrounds received at least one good meal a day, as this enabled children to concentrate on lessons better, as well as helping them to fight diseases.

Today’s Tories are to deny children food, like Thatcher in the ‘80s denied school children milk. They call this progress?

No wonder I have long considered Tories to be stuck in the past, believing that the past is our present.

My vision, however, and that of all socialists, is that a society cannot claim to be civilised if it forsakes a caring attitude for the weak, vulnerable, elderly and infirm.

Britain, therefore, is no longer a civilised nation, as under the Tories food is taken from poor children’s mouths and money saved handed to the rich in tax cuts, despite the fact they caused the present financial mess.

From: Hazlett Turner, Acre Fold, Addingham, Ilkley.

THE report by Involve Yorkshire and Humber (Yorkshire Post, April 21) exposes a shameful level of deprivation among rural communities. This situation will be exacerbated in the run-up to next winter as the forthcoming rise in fuel tax continues to drive up the cost of transport, food and heating oil. The public might feel more inclined to accept that “we’re all in this together” if the Government was not squandering money like a drunken sailor.

Why do we continue to send millions in foreign aid to countries such as India – one of the fastest-growing economies in the world – while British families struggle to make ends meet?

Why do we routinely squander scarce resources on providing translation services for those who take for granted the benefits of living in Britain but cannot be bothered to learn English?

Why do we waste time, money and national self-respect in fighting expensive – and usually futile – battles with the discredited European Court of Human Rights while other members of the European Union calmly disregard their idiotic rulings?

David Cameron’s party is sleepwalking into electoral disaster if he fails to place the needs of the silent majority before the demands of his coalition partners, minority activists and their coterie of human rights lawyers. This Government needs to decide now where it’s priorities lie. Easing the burden on rural communities would be a start.

From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

I AM glad to see your newspaper continuing to take an interest in the North-South divide for I consider it as one of the most serious and chronic problems of the age.

To turn it round is like the proverbial oil tanker. It is a complex matter with sociological, political and economic aspects. One of them is quite simply that if all career roads lead inevitably to London and the South East, there is a constant drain in that direction leaving behind legions of the unskilled and immobile, remnants of a once proud workforce.

One example of our plight suffices. Building the new Nissan at Sunderland is apparently handicapped by the lack of skilled workers.

Rebalancing government to give more power of decision making to the regions should be a top priority. Studying how our neighbours manage their governments would show us how we could remodel ours.

Lastly, I agree with Coun Nash (Yorkshire Post, April 17) that the proposed elected mayors would be a costly and ineffectual irrelevance.

From: Roger Dobson, Ash Street, Cross Hills, Keighley.

WHAT a clown prince of clowns we have as Prime Minister. It is a good job that he does not pick any of the British sporting teams if his choice of Cabinet members is anything to go by.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is more of a Sheriff of Nottingham than a Robin Hood, and is far too generous with our money for his own good.

Our Home Secretary is nothing but a big bottom with an attitude to match it. The Minister for Justice, Kenneth Clarke, must be the probation officer’s friend of the year as he could not sentence a good meal.

And finally I am sorry but David Cameron needs to come off the public schoolboy image.