Time for a rethink on relationships with Europe and the US

From: David McKenna, Hall Gardens, Rawcliffe, Goole.

AT last! Someone has finally had the courage to say that the so-called “Special Relationship” with the United States of America should be consigned to history.

Ex-Prime Minister John Major has stated that , in future, the US should “lead from behind” in matters concerning Europe and the Middle East.

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Sadly this wise move was not followed by either Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, both of whom spent time fawning over, agreeing with and running behind, former leaders of the US. And look where that policy got us.

It is blatantly obvious that peace in the Middle East will never be achieved while Obama continues to obey the wishes of Israel. Israel, as far as I can tell, has broken more United Nations resolutions than any other country on the planet, yet continues to be treated as some kind of democracy.

It really is about time that Palestine was granted statehood by the UN and that the Israeli “settlers” who are occupying Palestinian land were thrown off. Their defiance is mind-blowing but sadly, at the present time, neither the US or GB has any intention of pushing to enforce UN resolutions as they did against Iraq.

No doubt the cries of my being an anti-Semite will be thrown up, but anyone with only half a brain can see from what has not been happening over past years regarding the formation of a fully-functioning Palestinian state is mainly down to the reluctance of America to take a stand against Israel and to enforce United Nations resolutions, by force if necessary. It is easy to understand why this is so.

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John Major says we should be following a different path rather than that forged by the US in world matters and how right he is. The only common tie that we have with the land “over the pond” as they say, is language, and that is a pretty poor excuse for doing everything that the US dictates.

Forget the US and forge stronger links with China, India, Brazil and other expanding economies and let the US find new “special relatonships” – if it can.

From: John Gibson, Arkendale.

THE good news regarding the eurozone crisis is the unanimous agreement, endorsed by David Cameron as a matter of urgency, embraced by President Obama and his Chief at the US Treasury and reached after high-profile summits, burning the candle at both ends with countless meetings at the highest level, “that something needs to be done”.

Not so encouraging are the blank expressions of all these leaders faces when asked “what” needs to be done, suggesting that they have not got a clue, with the frightening prospect that they will end up doing nothing, only forming an orderly queue behind Greece and Italy.

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Considering that almost all of the wealth and prosperity generating resources Europe enjoyed 20 years ago are now resident in China under the guise of globalisation, leaving Europe’s workers and industry mortaged forever, it does not take a rocket scientist to work out where our leaders went wrong.

Sadly we are now relying on those lacking the vision, foresight and competence to get us into this fiasco they all agree we are in, out again while leaving their egos in tact.

From: Rodney Atkinson, Stocksfield, Northumberland.

IT WAS Lord Leon Brittan, a typical supporter of the disastrous euro who said some years ago: “There is no possible way in which nation-states by themselves can adequately discipline let alone shape international economic forces; there is simply no alternative but to construct some supra-national arrangements which allow for a greater collective influence over at least our economic life.”

Who are the “headbangers” now?

From: Jeremy Kilner, Choppards Mill, Holmfirth.

OUR dear leaders’ attempts to get the eurozone back under control are like a car driver pressing the accelerator rather than the brakes when his car is going too fast down a hill.

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For goodness sake – get Greece out of the eurozone – they should never have been part of it in the first place. The best solution would be to abandon the euro altogether, and to allow each country to go at its own speed.

From: David W Wright, Uppleby, Easingwold.

THE current in-phrase; is “not fit for purpose” and applies to anything from Government departments, the Immigration Service, Border Agency, the Blair and Brown regimes, Theresa May, Ed Miliband, the Lib Dems etc.

But by far the most serious non-performing body is the EU and the failed euro project which is way past the “not fit for purpose” title, but is now obviously doomed to failure along with the countries who have foolishly adopted the single currency. Cameron and Co must now grasp the initiative to withdraw from the EU before the UK follows Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal etc.