Our inglorious recent history of weak, inept governments

I AM very pleased I was required to do National Service, part of which I was fortunate to serve in Cyprus when this country was not a package holiday destination.

For me, it provided an education in comradeship, self-discipline and an understanding of the differences of various cultures and the very warm welcome given by the local people made me very proud to be British and so grateful to be born in such a great country.

If anyone at this time had predicted that in the next 50 years, Britain would give away her independence; surrender her fishing industry; allow unfair competition to ruin her milk and postal delivery systems; close the world’s best coal mining industry; simply watch as her world-famous car and motorcycle factories went out of business; preside over the closure of our public houses; accept every European Union directive however nonsensical; destroy our beautiful countryside with foreign-made, expensive and inefficient wind turbines, they would have been carried away by the men in white coats. Certainly a bet on this outcome, at a leading bookmaker, would have resulted in an unbelievable fortune for the punter.

The tragedy is that all this has been allowed to happen because Britain has, over this last 50 years, suffered appalling governments who have forgotten that their duty is to represent the British people. If they cannot, or will not, protect the safety and welfare of their own people, by what right can they remain in office?

Millions of British lives were sacrificed to help free Europe of Nazi occupation and to allow Europe to live in peace, yet such a short time later the so-called European Court of Human Rights, apparently ungrateful for their freedom, rules that Britain cannot deport Abu Qatada, described by our own courts as Osama bin Laden’s right hand man in Europe, because his human rights may be infringed.

This must, by anyone’s standards, defy all reason and logic. Yet our sloppy, totally out-of-touch government weakly carries out these orders and apparently to hell with any safety concerns for you and me. Did our forefathers sacrifice their lives to allow such nonsense?

Then, apparently, wishing to further demonstrate their weakness, they give a two-finger salute to all of us mere British citizens, as our very own Government agrees to America’s request to extradite British businessman Christopher Tappin, who is accused of selling missile parts to Iran.

America has, however, not provided any evidence to support their request for extradition and, yes, you’ve guessed it, Britain has not demanded any. Any belief that America is a world leader in dispensing justice is a non-starter, indeed, her justice systems seem to belong to a bygone age, but when America says jump, we ask how high.

Well, I am still proud to be British, still immensely grateful for the huge sacrifices made by our forefathers, but sadly, very ashamed of our Government’s actions.

The three main political parties appear to have one thing in common – an amazing ability to cock up at every possible opportunity with the overwhelming desire to ignore her own people’s welfare.

From: Colin McNamee, Ella Street, Hull.

IS it just the blatant and wasteful profligacy under the Blair/Brown administrations which has given us ineptocracy in the governance of this country?

Certainly under Mr Cameron, with not a little help from Mr Clegg, ineptocracy is alive and well.

U-turns; media spin; ineptitude; ill-thought through and badly introduced policies; corruption and calamitous appointments. A continual failure to explain to the electorate those matters that are not under the control of Westminster but have to be done under European Union requirement.

From: Phil Hanson, Beechmount Close, Baildon, Shipley.

WHAT state has this country got itself into? We have banks run by clowns, who upon doing what they are paid to do, award themselves bonuses of eye-watering proportions whilst they still lose money.

British businesses are fighting to survive and create jobs whilst our Government is playing at being world leaders on how to resolve problems like Syria and Somalia.

Anyone who saw media reports on the Somalia conference in London this week will probably, like me, be very annoyed, as the one clear message the African nations brought to London was “give us your money”.

I want to see Britain put first and take all the do-gooding off the agenda. As long as our governments keep giving, the nations such as those in Africa will not take responsibility for their own people and worse still, the people will just sit on their backsides, waiting for aid to come. Charity should begin at home.