Saturday's Letters: Council's actions may be turning voters against the Tories

We have an excellent MP in Graham Stuart, who, will most likely be re-elected.

However, the so-called "top-10" Conservative-controlled East Riding Council is doing its best to make voters turn against the Party which the council is supposed to represent, with its massive majority.

Of course, I refer to the immoral discretionary payment of 364,000 to the Director of Corporate Resources, Sue Lockwood, as she retired. Coming so soon after a very substantial salary increase, there is no justification for this squandering of public money.

In your report (Yorkshire Post, April 14), you rightly state the council's decision was taken in spite of public outcry.

In so many instances over the years, the wishes of the voters have been ignored. The "call-in" request made by five or six elected members was also dismissed.

It would be interesting to know the views of Conservative central office on this particular issue at the time of the General Election.

The council's attitude will not be helpful in increasing the Conservative vote throughout the constituency. Graham Stuart's task in standing for re-election will be more difficult.

The behaviour of the Conservative councillors in the East Riding is not representative of the party's ideals and must cause great embarrassment to the central office and the candidate standing for re-election. Having voted every time since 1945, I consider these members are not typical of the party they claim to represent. They would never have gained my vote – nor that of thousands of others.

Just what do they expect to gain from making such decisions?

From: Stan Brackenbury, Minster Moorgate, Beverley.

From: John Dawson, Gainsborough Court, Skipton.

A MAJORITY Conservative Government is vital for the future good of our country. Difficult decisions will have to be taken after probably the worst Government in living memory.

As a lifelong Conservative, I recognise that today's Conservatives are not perfect. However, they are the only viable alternative to Labour. Any other vote will only help Labour or cause an indecisive hung Parliament. Labour must go. Messrs Blair and Brown have led us to war based on a lie, destroyed company pension schemes, interfered more and more in all our lives and caused mass immigration while public services have declined.

This is on top of contributing to the recent financial collapse by encouraging a debt-ridden society and Government and weak financial regulation.

At the same time they have even broken their own promises in their last manifesto, for example, putting up taxes and failing to hold a promised referendum on the European Treaty.

From: Edwin Bateman, South Dyke, Great Salkeld, Penrith, Cumbria.

DAVID Cameron cannot give power to the people because Gordon Brown gave power to the EU in the Lisbon Treaty! The election is a charade, a fake, whoever "wins" will have no power because the Lisbon

Treaty gives power to govern us to the EU.

EU laws now impinge on every aspect of UK citizens' daily lives in higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower pensions and higher costs of fuel, food, health, defence and everything else and unlimited immigration.

The three failed old parties will not allow a democratic vote to repeal the treasonous Tory European Communities Act, only UKIP will do that. England is in great danger. On the latest EU maps of Europe, England has disappeared, it is split into EU "regions". Unless we exit the EU, England is finished.

From: NL Wright, Carlton Husthwaite, Thirsk.

I have always used my vote and this election poses me a problem as none of the major parties feels inclined to offer me (at last) a chance to have a say on the EU – that is a promise of a referendum very early in the life of the next Parliament.

Is this another case of politicians knowing better than ourselves what is good for us? Such a situation with the recent performances of our elected government bodes nothing but disaster for the future of our beloved country.

I have just read the letter from D Wood (Yorkshire Post, April 14) and trust that David Cameron will take note and give us the reason to vote for him and the Conservative Party.

The city that lost its centre of attraction

From: Ian R Bolton, Knightsbridge Walk, Bierley, West Yorkshire.

TO me, Bradford Council is getting it wrong again by wasting money on getting the Westfield site developed into a green space. It is also getting it wrong by developing the city centre .

Bradford Council got it wrong by building the Interchange where it presently is and redeveloping it into its present form where full buses have to back into the paths of oncoming buses.

So come on, Bradford Council, get it right and stop wasting money. People do not want to visit Bradford until:

n It develops a proper integrated transport system with a central railway station and attached safe bus interchange.

n It develops Hall Ings into dual carriage way across the city, even if it means demolishing Britannia House and/or St George's Hall.

n It puts in now safe pedestrian access across Hall Ings.

n It brings forward the rebuilding of Low Moor railway station to this year, not 2020, as I have seen intimated.

I daresay there are lots of other things we would like to do if we had the money but Bradford lost its way a long time ago, when the city fathers decided on a central railway station – but the idea was thought irrelevant so Bradford has suffered from piecemeal development ever since.

Democracy blown away

From: Colin Richardson, Brandesburton, East Yorkshire.

I SEEM to have a problem understanding why we are sending soldiers to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan to create a democracy when we don't

have one here. When a wind farm is proposed, and the locals say no, the parish council says no and the county council says no, some faceless person in London says, never mind them, just go ahead.

When the planning approval is given the go ahead is there any proviso that it should be fit for purpose? After all, a great deal of our money goes to subsidise the wind farm. Would it be too much to ask that a condition of planning was to insist that, following commissioning, the wind farm must average at least 66 per cent of its quoted output every day for the next 12 months? Should this not be achieved, then the wind farm would be dismantled, the land be reverted back to its original state and all subsidies returned.

How we can combat litter

From: Roger Crossley, Fall View, Silkstone, Barnsley.

RECENT letters concerning the plague of litter in our streets and countryside inspires me once again to have another little rant on the matter.

I agree with most of the sentiments of your correspondents, especially the one which bemoans the inevitability of litter as a consequence of the way "society" is, and it being too late now to do anything about it. I agree. I think it is a losing battle because too many people are brought up not caring or even recognising the effect of litter on our landscape, and more and more perversely, enjoy the process of spoiling.

However, as I have said before in these columns, those of us left who do care, still have the power to do something about it on our "patch".

I urge you, therefore, to establish a routine on your regular routes to pick up litter. Be brave. Establish your personal litter caches which you can clear periodically, or carry a bag. I'll leave it to you, but it is do-able.

The message is that if you care, don't just moan, do something. It's a losing battle, but hey, you'll feel better, and so will your little patch.

A valuable exercise for training ice hockey teams

From: Tom Shipstone, Manchester Road, Sheffield.

RON Farley's letter (Yorkshire Post, April 9) concerning "short bursts of training better than hours on the treadmill" is an apt comment on a well-proven concept of fitness training.

In 1975, I established the ice hockey teams "Lancers" and "Knights" at Queens Road ice rink in Sheffield where it had never been seen or played before and I was faced with the task of changing bored general skaters at the rink moving at 5mph into powerful skating machines speeding at 25mph or more. This was in order to be credible in the game in a short period of time.

They had to be fit to keep their interest and have the ability to hold their own in what can be a very speedy game with much body contact, if not fast enough to move their bodies out of the way in tight game situations.

In order to do this, I adopted the schedules of the Royal Canadian Air Force exercise programme originating from the 1950s to essential off-ice training at various establishments, all having very little gymnastic equipment.

The exercises were alternated with laps of fast running while all the time recording the increase in ability to complete the exercises in shorter periods of time. This was also combined with measuring periodically the increase in speed that they could run a mile. This recorded information caused much personal interest and feedback with increasing efforts on the part of the trainees.

This regime, combined with the very vigorous Swedish ice hockey warm-up and the limited ice time, enabled these one-way skating amateurs in a few months to hold their own and go on over the years to have many league and tournament successes.

There was no going back. It established a secure basis for many skaters, both ladies and men taking part in the game in Sheffield.

The training itself was simple by using the weight of the body. It was all recordable and required minimum equipment and little in the form of "new initiatives". A case of "if it ain't broke, then don't mend it". Its results have been proved right up to the present day.

From: Allan Davies, Heathfield Court, Grimsby.

I MAY be able to help Ron Farley. I recollect a small book, published, I think, by Penguin. It set out exercises devised by the Canadian Air Force for air crew with limited time for training. The title, I think, was 5BX exercises: fitness in 11 minutes a day. I had a copy for years, did two sessions a day and that, along with carrying my two children up and down stairs singing The Grand Old Duke of York, kept me reasonably fit.

If the book is no longer in print, it merits republishing.

Elderly people pay the penalty

From: K Cox, Ancholme Gardens, Brigg, Lincolnshire.

I AM 90 and live in sheltered accommodation for the elderly. My personal circumstances are the same as they were a year ago. I have now received notice of the usual financial changes which happen at the beginning of each financial year:

n My state pension goes up by two-and-a-half per cent.

n My civil service pension remains the same as it was.

n My income tax code has been lowered so I pay more income tax.

n My rent has been increased.

n Council tax has been increased.

The net result of these changes is that in the coming year my monthly spendable income will be 24p less than in the last year.

So much for all the blarney put out by Parliament, other organisations and the media about caring for the elderly and easing their financial burdens.

But what can one do except publicise all the lies and nonsense, showing them to be the cant and hypocrisy they are?

A greater giveaway

From: Michael Booth, Bramhope, Leeds

I READ a few days ago of our Prime Minister's generosity in giving 178m of our money to China. I then read Sir Norman Bettison's

excellent piece on over-paid public sector employees (Yorkshire Post, April 12).

What a pity the PM hadn't acted on Sir Norman's ideas. Just think of all the extra millions he would have available to give away to the third biggest economy in the world.