Lashing for mediocre politicians

TOM Richmond’s statement (Yorkshire Post, April 3) that “Britain is being governed by mediocrity – this must be the weakest House of Commons in living memory, it’s benches packed with MPs and Ministers with little experience of the real world and very few people who can genuinely inspire” sums up, I’m sure, the observations of the majority of the electorate.

David Cameron is turning out to be the biggest disappointment in recent times and appears to be in the same “spinning” league as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The calibre of the current Parliament was summed up during the Chancellor’s Budget presentation from the despatch box last month: the number of times the Speaker had to step in due to the noise of riotous barracking, from both sides of the House, made the whole presentation a farce, making it almost impossible for anyone to follow.

These are the people who are the first to criticise the behaviour of our young people for not conforming to society’s accepted standards. The entire attitudes in the Parliament have become increasingly more adversarial, not in the interests of the country at large ,but purely in the interests of “personal” political power.

Before Parliament tries to alter the structure of the House of Lords, it should first put its own house in order.

From: Robert Reynolds, Harrogate.

FOR too long the people of this island have been served by mediocre politicians (Tom Richmond, Yorkshire Post, April 3).

Debate has degenerated into who last ate what pasty. Meanwhile, jobs are lost, thousands are thrown onto the economic scrapheap and for what? To pursue an economic theory that will bankrupt our country. All three main parties support this in some measure.

While our lazy politicians allowed the bankers to go to the casino and lose our national wealth, were you asked if this was right? Is it now right that you should pay for their mistakes? Your income has been squeezed, food and fuel prices have soared, pension annuities fallen and more of us live in fear of losing our jobs.

Well, I don’t accept that we must tolerate austerity measures. I not only believe but know there is an alternative. If politics is about ideas then we should have politicians prepared to find ways of getting us out of this mess. Instead they bicker and deliver more misery, which is why the voters of Bradford West voted for George Galloway.

Now here come the local elections. Time to give them another good slapping?

From: Peter Hyde, Kendale View, Driffield.

READING Tom Richmond’s article (Yorkshire Post, April 3), I realise he has got it just right – Cameron, Clegg and Miliband are all about image and completely lack substance. They and their Cabinet members make statement without thinking them through and make their policies the same way. They are so full of soundbites that we ordinary folk have problems in understanding just what they stand for.

From: Barabara Stark, Ridgestone, Bilton.

TOM Richmond asks if there is anyone in politics who can be trusted (Yorkshire Post, April 3)?

Can I suggest Nigel Farage, leader of Ukip. He is for Britain, he is honest and says it as it is, he has charisma and the gift of oratory.

He is also invisible as far as the media is concerned – he is never mentioned. Why?

From: Peter Broadley, West Vale Chambers, Stainland Road, Greetland, Halifax.

THE last three weeks have not been the best for Conservative Party members such as me.

I have never been a fan of “Call Me Dave”, I didn’t vote for him, and he continues to portray an image of a “Teflon Tony” clone.

Prior to the last General Election, which the Tory Party didn’t win against the background of an unpopular Labour Party who had run the country’s finances into the ground, the Conservatives had a healthy lead in the polls, which “Dave” allowed to evaporated by opening his mouth on policy, before he had researched what he was going to say (Tom Richmond, Yorkshire Post, April 3). As a result Joe Public didn’t believe what “Dave” was saying, and the more thoughtful views of Vince Cable prevailed (though now in Government he looks like a fish out of water).

The lure of going to the Palace every week, the Ministerial car grace and favour houses, and the thought that people might take him seriously, were too much for “Dave”, not to mention a hot dog from President Obama, and even a ride in his aircraft.

From: Alec Denton, Oxford Avenue, Guiseley.

IN my local the other night I was told that the price of the beer had been increased because of a “Budget increase”.

This puzzled me because I was not aware of an increase in beer duty being mentioned or reported at the last Budget.

On inquiring further, I was told the increase resulted from the previous Budget and conveniently allowed the Chancellor to say in the last Budget he had not increased the duty on beer, a confidence trick Gordon Brown would have been proud of.

Taken together with other taxation issues such as fuel duty and the pasty tax – was this a young Chancellor having the equivalent of a senior moment or was it cobbled together by the same incompetent Treasury officials who embarrassed Gordon Brown with their failure to understand the implications of removing the 10 per cent tax band?

It is hardly surprising the electors of Bradford West have said a plague on both your houses.

We can all dream, but wouldn’t it be nice to live in a country run by politicians we could believe.