March 15 Letters: Questions on funding of Tory pledges

ALL my life I have voted Tory. This time I do not know what to do.

Neither David Cameron nor George Osborne can answer straight questions about how their so called “promises” will be funded. The most blatant was on the Andrew Marr Show (April 12) when Osborne squirmed when repeatedly asked about his funding of the NHS.

Quite frankly, I have come to the conclusion that Osborne knows nowt about finance and relies on civil servants to print out their policies for the country, to be aped by Osborne. It is time the media get in and tell them they must face interrogation through daily conferences with the printed and TV reporters.

From: Terry Marston, Lincoln.

I’VE spent several weeks, both work and leisure, in America. It’s a great country – but I prefer to live in the UK. Most Britons would agree and express the same choice. So why does the Conservative Party take every opportunity to make life in these islands more like the US? Tory policies – particularly on health – are drawing us closer to the American model.

Now, they are aping even 
the electioneering methods 
and manners of the American Right, given the recent example of Michael Fallon. Let’s have a return to British standards, and if Conservative politicians do 
not like them, they could take 
the opposite choice to the one I made above.

From: TC Robinson, Abbey Lane, Beauchief, Sheffield.

I AM reminded that David Cameron appeared on the BBC after last year’s Conservative conference and told the nation at large he hoped the electorate would judge him on his record. I just pray that is exactly what they will do – we can’t afford another Conservative or Labour majority election victory. We need 40 to 50 Ukip MPs to ensure our future.

From: Dave Asher, Sheffield.

TWENTY years ago, the EU set up its Court of Auditors to monitor its accounts.

Not once over those two decades have those accounts been signed off by the auditors – either for reasons of corruption or due to systemic failures.

Imagine what would happen in the media here if the accounts of a single council were not approved – there would be uproar.

Yet because this is “the mighty European Union” – it hardly warrants comment. The LibLabCon and Greens do not seem to care.

Want to know why I now fully support the UK Independence Party? Look no further.

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

HAS anyone noticed that during the ongoing election debates David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg never seem to mention immigration and the EU? Of course we all know about immigration, but what about the EU? Well, surprise, surprise, another myth bites the dust. Cameron, Miliband and especially Clegg tell us the world would end if we left the EU. Again the “schoolboys” get it wrong. Sales of exports outside the EU have beaten what we sold in it for six months in a row. We actually sold £37.9bn of goods outside the EU (up 4.2 per cent) compared to goods sold in the EU of £34.4bn (down 7.4 per cent).

So, when the status quo tell us we are better off in the corrupt EU, tell them they are lying – again.

From: Iain Morris, Saltaire.

IF you have worked on the shop floor for any length of time you just do not like the look of George Osborne.

From: Tim Radcliffe, Holmfirth.

FRANCIS Beckett was totally correct with his assessment of Tony Blair in a recent Saturday Essay in your newspaper. The man should be prosecuted as a war criminal. And then to rub salt into the wounds he is appointed as a peace ambassador to the Middle East.

The destabilisation of the entire Middle East is down to Blair and his friend George W Bush. I do not know how they sleep at night.

No place for churchman

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

HOW sad to see the photograph of the Dean of Wakefield Cathedral posing in front of Ladbrokes (The Yorkshire Post, April 11). Doesn’t he know that gambling is one of the main contributors to the huge amount of debt which people accumulate these days?

There are 2.5 million children living in families with debt problems, who face a total of £4.8bn of household debts and repayments. I couldn’t imagine Jesus walking into a betting shop, ever. Thank God that the Dean’s horse, Godsmejudge, did not win. I reckon there is something very much to the point in the horse’s name! How wrong this action is for a man in his position as a leading Christian.

Airport rip-off

From: Roy Crossley, Castleford.

IS anything more symptomatic of rip off Britain than its airports? At Leeds Bradford Airport I had to pay £3 for one minute to be dropped off, then was asked for £12 for a decidedly average breakfast and £2.10 for a bottle of water.