March 14 letters: Cameron throws away victory by running from debate

it seems to me that David Cameron has presented the forthcoming election to the Labour Party on a silver platter. I had high hopes of the Conservatives winning an outright majority, particularly as Labour is intent on its tax and spend policies.

However, Cameron’s reluctance to engage Labour in a televised debate is hard to understand and I can only assume that there is information that he doesn’t want the country to know until after the election.

Why else would he run away from such an opportunity to put the case for his party’s continuance in office? The average voter is going to conclude that he has something to hide and will not vote at all, or vote for another party. Either way it will reduce the Conservative vote and with the current unfairness in the electoral roll (favouring Labour and supported by the Lib Dems), I can see Labour winning.

Get your finger out Mr Cameron and stop hiding behind minor parties such as the Greens.

From: Martin D Stern, Hanover Gardens, Salford.

READERS will naturally understand why Chris Foote-Wood, as a Parliamentary Lib Dem candidate (The Yorkshire Post, March 9), would find it unfair for all candidates to lose their deposits if the none of the above option gets most votes.

However his observation that, should there have to be by-elections until one of the others gets a majority, would be thwarted because “the parties would simply bring forward new candidates and the whole process would be repeated indefinitely with ever-diminishing numbers of voters taking part” betrays the cynical attitudes of professional politicians.

While I would concede that losing their deposit might be restricted to those getting less than some minimal percentage, say a third, of the vote its introduction would have a sobering effect on those who treat the electorate as mere “cannon fodder” to advance their own interests.

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington.

I HAVE lived in England for close on 40 years, here in East Yorkshire, and at each General Election I have voted Conservative. Never before have I watched a Prime Minister losing his head at PMQs, rarely responding to a reasonable question from other party’s members.