Tuesday's Letters: Fighting talk as the public gets the chance to box clever

Bloodied and bruised by public opinion. In the red corner, Gordon "Boom-Boom Bust" Brown staggers to his feet, having rested on his laurels for far too long.

Blue blooded, through 'n through. In the blue corner, "Canvas-Floor" Cameron could make a lucrative business from advertising on the soles of his shoes.

For the Tories have been knocked out in each of the last three General Elections.

New kid on the block, Nick "The People's Champion", Clegg, punches the air, raring to go in the yellow corner.

Oh the carnage, the humanity, as "Boom-Boom Bust" Brown punches wildly at "Canvas-Floor" Cameron. Missing, he spins round and falls flat on his face.

Cameron thinking it was "The Sun Wot Won It", can't believe his luck. Poor sap, he just didn't see it coming, as Clegg lands a sweet left into the flaccid guts of Tory non-policy.

Winded and confused, Cameron pathetically gestures for help to the punters, just before a Clegg uppercut hits him squarely on the chin.

Victory for "The People's Champion".

"Ding, ding." Hold on a sec' – reality check.

Even if Clegg did win and Brown came third, guess what – "Boom-Boom Bust" Brown could still win with the most seats.

Yet another fix in a political arena that offers no real sporting

chance for the underdog.

As Clegg may indeed utter: "I could 'a been a contender."

Tough luck. As "Boom-Boom Bust" Brown, the loser, might well take it all, in this talentless contest. However, at least the electorate will have boxed clever to achieve a hung parliament.

From: T Scaife, Manor Drive, York.

From: Phil Hutchinson, Wortley.

A HUNG parliament would surely be in the best interests of us all, but to give such a Government that description is a negative connotation.

A coalition, a consensus which delivers electoral reform and which deploys the best people from the different parties, would be applauded.

A landslide for any party would see the shelving – again – of reform and progress to our democracy which reached its nadir in the last term.

From: Karl Sheridan, Selby Road, Holme on Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire.

WE are all aware of the sense of desperation from all political parties about this coming General Election, and the great television debate between the leaders of the main political parties was, indeed, interesting (Yorkshire Post, April 16).

The majority of us for once sat and listened to what the leaders had to say, unlike normal party political broadcasts when all you see are a few specially chosen brainwashed people spouting their adoration to that particular party and why they think we should join them in voting for them, which in all fairness feels as false as Blair's promises 13 years ago.

However, I did feel it came across as very nice and proper and restrained, lacking at times any spark of sincerity and commitment. I personally wanted to hear firm promises coming from the mouths of these people: I wanted to hear what we would and wouldn't get in black and white, not what they would "like" to see happen if they get elected and frankly those promises were not forthcoming.

I look forward to watching the next session, but I have to admit that Nick Clegg came across as the overall winner this time round and maybe it really is worth going for a major change.

From: Philip Smith, New Walk, Beverley.

I CANNOT believe the Tories are talking about people power (Yorkshire Post, April 14). Anybody serious about people power would be advocating proportional representation in all elections. That way every vote counts and more people would vote.

People power would mean having a fully elected House of Lords and Head of State. People power would mean having referenda at every election, the results of which would compel whoever was in power to act on what the people wanted rather than political parties.

People power would mean that MPs would be subject to the codes of behaviour that the rest of us live by rather than a set of rules especially made up for them by them.

People power would mean that whips would be abolished so that MPs were free to vote with their consciences rather than the way they are threatened to vote – as is the case now. People power would mean that the Tory East Riding Council's 360,000 top-up of a senior officer's pension would never happen again.

I wonder if the Tories' people power means any of these things. I doubt it. I'd be amazed if we could trust the Tories to do anything of significance in giving people more power.

Campaigning for English parliament

From: Mrs Jennifer Hunter, Farfield Avenue, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

IN his letter (Yorkshire Post, April 13), David Wright states that we should now be campaigning for an English Parliament.

There is, in fact, The Campaign for an English Parliament, a single-issue campaign group which attracts support from right across the political spectrum.

Having observed the general attitude of many current Westminster MPs towards the electorate, as well as their overt reluctance to listen to the opinions of the people of England, it is highly likely that if St George and other crusaders were alive today, they would be as disillusioned as I am regarding the lack of English democracy.

The pastures of our green and pleasant land have, over the years, nurtured various self-seeking, ambitious political seeds which have sometimes matured into verdures of greed and arrogance.

Furthermore, the people of England have cultivated sufficient home-grown despotic crops, and do not require any further horticultural assistance from those outside its boundaries at a political

level.

Fighting the litter louts

From Sue Cuthbert, Newton on Rawcliffe.

REGARDING the letter from Roger Crossley "How we can combat litter" (Yorkshire Post, April 17), I completely agree with him, but is this a losing battle?

Like him, we clear litter in our area, but recently I was so fed up with passing a spot just outside Pickering which was an eyesore because of excessive litter, I contacted Ryedale District Council.

They passed me on to a department which deals with flytipping and litter. A very efficient lady took the details and the litter was

cleared the following day. Well done to them. Consider doing this also.

Of course, we shouldn't have to ask our authorities to do this – the litter should not be there any way.

This particular spot has been cleared by us three times in past years.

I have a feeling that people who litter are probably the same

disgusting, lazy individuals who fail to clear up after their dogs.

Health role for parents

From: Miss P Johnson, Cross Flatts Grove, Leeds.

THE recent documentary regarding the preventable epidemics of tooth decay and obesity in children is alarming. Sadly, these children could die before their parents' generation.

Action needs to be taken. Adding fluoride to the public water supply is not the answer because it could aggravate the situation.

The causes of the problem are eating a poor diet, too many sweets and drinking sugary drinks, and lack of dental hygiene.

The solution is education, education, education for parents, future parents and children.

Parents need to learn how to prepare basic nutritious food at meal times and to ensure their children clean their teeth twice a day.

This problem is not caused by poverty but by wrong priorities. It is a sad reflection that children were healthier during the second world war than they are today when there is plenty of good food in the shops.

From: A&S Davies, Heathfield Court, Grimsby, NE Lincs.

MARGARET Duckham (Yorkshire Post, April 14) is wrong in implying that the shortage of dentists is the fault of the present Government. It is a shortage that it inherited, and the evidence has been available for many years.

An OECD survey, published since 2002, put the UK at the foot of a table of Western European nations. We had one dentist for every 2,500 patients. Immediately above, came Spain with one for every 1,250 patients – pro rata, twice the UK's supply.

There is also a severe shortage of dental academies. It will take decades to remedy this shortage.

Sky-high cost of airport parking

From: Richard Morrice, Heworth Green, York.

ON Tuesday last week, I flew from Leeds Bradford International Airport to Belfast, returning eight hours later. The car park fee was 27 plus a 2.50 credit card handling charge.

I have checked a number of airport websites and can find none which charge such astronomical fees.

I pity those who have been stranded in the current crisis who will come back to car park charges in the hundreds of pounds.

The greed of the airport managers does nothing to support Yorkshire business and those who are obliged to make short air trips for personal reasons.

Giving aid to the rich

From: Paul Rouse, Main Street, Sutton on Derwent, York.

ALL three main parties agree that we need to reduce public expenditure in order to reduce our national debt, but, for some inexplicable reason, they also agree that overseas aid should be ring-fenced.

We are giving money to India, whose companies now own great chunks of our industry, oil-rich Nigeria, Russia and even China who are currently lending money to the USA.

I wonder what would happen if I asked my bank to loan me money so that I could give it away to my rich friends?