Political U-turns are not always a bad thing, each should be judged on its merit - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Celia Midgley, Skipton.
As the Makerfield by-election draws near, the Opposition parties are stepping up their campaigns to wrest the seat from Labour. They have plenty of ammunition, including personal attacks and, that old chestnut, U-turns made by the Government during two years in office.
Notable among these are the removal of the two-child benefit cap and the reinstatement of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, the sin being that the Government changed its mind and reversed its earliest decision.
U-turns are not in themselves bad. Indeed, being inflexible can be problematic. Inflexibility worked for a while for Margaret Thatcher, who famously declared 'The lady's not for turning', but her refusal to listen to others led to her eventual downfall. What matters is the substance of the policy and whether or not it is helpful.
The selling off of council houses was a disastrous decision, the effects of which are still being felt by young families needing to rent at affordable rates.
More recently we had the Liz Truss premiership, seemingly determined and inflexible at first, but then making a whole series of U-turns in her 49 days in office. Her abolition of the 45 per cent top tax rate and cancellation of her flagship pledge on corporation tax were just two of Truss's U-turns.
She also appointed Jeremy Hunt as chancellor and decided to keep the triple lock for pensioners after earlier refusing to guarantee it. Her chaotic short period as Prime Minister sent markets reeling and had a negative effect on many people's lives and livelihoods.
Sometimes a U-turn is a good thing, sometimes not. If it helps to think things over and reverse a decision, why not? Many of us will have changed our minds over time, perhaps over something important such as our voting system or our relationship with the European Union.
More U-turns will be made by politicians in the future. Let each one be judged on its merits and let us be glad when common sense prevails.