Politicians should put wellbeing of citizens to the fore

From: Jennifer Hunter, Farfield Avenue, Knaresborough.

EDDIE Bone’s article about the campaign for an English parliament (Yorkshire Post, September 12) refers to the possibility that Labour are attempting to manufacture a North-South divide.

In reality, however, this 
division has actually been in place for a very long time and during my university days students from different parts of this country often made jokes about this issue.

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We often also made fun of and laughed heartily at our companions while discussing the wide variety of regional differences and these differences frequently provided us with entertainment fodder, but one underlying and fundamental unifying factor with regard to all English students at that time was the fact that we all spoke 
and understood the same language.

We also accepted our regionally cultural and linguistic differences and fostered cordial relations by making friends from other parts of this country and keeping in contact with them when we went our separate ways.

Regional differences used to be treated lightheartedly and this was merely one aspect of the Merry England to which I referred nostalgically earlier this year (Yorkshire Post, April 2), but I fail to perceive anything remotely amusing regarding Mr Bone’s observations.

In fact, I detect sinister implications which lurk behind the promotion of regional differences.

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Once again, it appears that politicians possess the potential to cause egregious friction and dissent. They prefer to think of themselves and extol the virtues of their theories and ideologies instead of putting the general wellbeing of the citizens of this land at the fore. In short, they demonstrate lack of thought 
and feeling for the welfare of other people.

From: Maureen Hunt, Woolley, near Wakefield.

THANK you GP Taylor for your excellent, astute article “Who will defend Christians against hatred and mockery?” (Yorkshire Post, September 9). That is exactly what you have just done.

I have been struggling, and failing, to write a letter on this very subject for some time. Your column is infinitely more eloquent than I could ever be and carries so much more weight, as you are an ordained priest.

Your description of the bishop who “adopts the principle of a chocolate fireguard” is brilliant and unforgettable. They do indeed seem to be “too frightened to stand up and be counted”.

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They are also far too involved in the secular realm of politics to be totally committed to their spiritual task of defending the faith and increasing the number of their flock.

Last year, when I was in hospital (which shall be nameless) I saw a doctor wearing a cross. Doctors are not likely to be sidelined. We need more people who will openly profess their Christianity.

For hundreds of years Christianity has been the foundation and mainstay of our country. It has been the basis of our moral code. Never has it been more needed than it is today.

We would do well to heed the advice of Cardinal Miloslav Vik, Archbishop of Prague: “Unless the Christians wake up, life may be Islamised and Christianity will not have the strength to imprint its character on the life of people, not to say society.”

From: David W Wright, Uppleby, Easingwold.

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WHAT a splendid Opinion column (Yorkshire Post, September 11) from GP Taylor and his appraisal of the ills affecting the UK from the cultures of dumbing-down, human rights, political correctness, health and safety, discrimination etc.

Why and how have we allowed ourselves to get into this situation which has been festering for many years, and our politicians seemingly have either turned a blind eye to the growing problems or blamed someone else? With a General Election coming along surely one or all of the political parties ought to be listening to public opinion and to rewrite their manifestos to finally nail this coffin – and as Mr Taylor has stated, we have handed over so much power to Europe who are deciding the fate of the indigenous population.

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

I WAS surprised by GP Taylor’s reports of hate-mail following his first book. The death-threats from America are shocking, coming from a country which is accustomed to Christian evangelism.

As for the manager of a well-known bookstore who openly discouraged the sale of the 
book, he should have been reported to his employer and duly sacked.

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However, having considered reading the book to find out what had prompted such a disturbing backlash, I decided against it. GP Taylor should not be promoting his work under the guise of a journalist,

Nor is it his place to report that the book was a “world-wide success” and that he had been dubbed “the new CS Lewis”.

I am not keen on part-time or celebrity columnists. That job is best done by professionals such as Bill Carmichael. If GP Taylor wants to promote his brand of politics he should restrict his polemic to his fiction or even the letters page.