Tuesday's Letters: We need an honest parliament amid Middle England

It is clear that Parliament's reputation will not be restored after the General Election when a new crop of MPs is elected, so deep is the

public's sense of betrayal.

More than half the MPs in Parliament have had to return money they had

wrongly claimed. Tory MP Alan Duncan may have been the only MP who was

indiscreet enough to mention that MPs were on "rations", but moat cleaning and duck houses have not been forgotten.

A sense of entitlement, vanity and privilege has fuelled the whole sorry saga, but the MPs' shamelessness is not the point. The problem is inherent in the Westminster village set-up. The first part of

Parliamentary reform has to be an English parliament, preferably a hundred miles from Westminster amid Middle England.

From: Tom Spratt, Priory Road, Weston Super Mare.

From: Stanley Parr, Maple Avenue, Pershore, Worcs.

SPORT has always been a weekend relaxation after a hard week's work. No more. It is now a full-time obsession. An indication of how pathetic

and lost we have become, was given on television when the John Terry affair was the leading item over three MPs, plus one House of Lords member, being prosecuted for their expense claims.

There is something seriously wrong with our priorities, to broadcast them in this order of importance.

MPs are supposed to be "pillars of society" and beyond reproach. To have three prosecuted for fraud indicates just how far standards have

very seriously declined in our nation.

I am beginning to think being run by Brussels may even be a good thing. I jest – but we need some very drastic changes, if we wish to

become, once again, an independent nation.

Personally, with footballers leading the national news items, I don't see it happening.

From: Barry Foster, Manor Cottages, High Stakesby, Whitby.

WE have MPs robbing us left right and centre with the expenses saga. The country is going down the Swanee and all we read of is a footballer sacked because he's had an affair.

Somewhere along the line we are all loosing our sense of priority.

Brave troops need to feel honoured

From: Paul Andrews, The Beeches, Great Habton.

I REFER to the correspondence on the examination of Tony Blair by the Chilcot Inquiry.

The inquiry has been criticised for being weak. Is this surprising when the chairman is not a high court judge? A high court judge would know how

to closely question a witness in a way which is fair, thorough and polite.

As it happens, there is little evidence of any substance in the reports I have seen to suggest that Blair led us into the war without an honest and reasonable belief that the war was legal and that Iraq had WMD. He did accept responsibility for serious mistakes which were made in plans for security after the war.

Much has been said about the shortage of equipment, but isn't the ability to improvise one of the great strengths of our armed services? Perfection is something that is rarely (if ever) achieved on a battlefield.

Every soldier's death is a tragedy, but by comparison with the 60,000 who died before breakfast on the Somme or the 10,000 British casualties in the two weeks of Alamein, the 179 British casualties in Iraq are mercifully very light.

Our brave young men and women are now committed to a war in Afghanistan against a ruthless enemy who value life less than we do, and have no hesitation in bullying and terrorising their own people.

Our soldiers need to feel they have our support for the risks they have to undertake every day. So, is it really any help for them to know that the purpose of their being in Afghanistan is being questioned at home and that people here are openly saying that the war they are fighting is unwinnable and their sacrifices, futile?

Wouldn't it be better for them to feel honoured for the efforts they have already made to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq and their fight to give the same benefits to Afghanistan?

From: Terry Wiseman, High Storrs Crescent, Ecclesall, Sheffield.

AS usual, Bernard Ingham is right on the button with his analysis of the Chilcot Inquiry (Yorkshire Post, February 3).

I would take issue with one point. In his pecking order of this appalling Government's distinguishing features, he lists manipulation of the media at the bottom of his list. It should be first.

Blair and his cohorts were elected on the back of the biggest

manipulation of the media I have witnessed in my lifetime and, so far as I can tell, it has remained Labour's consistent first-line policy during a period in office that has reduced this once proud country to the lamentable shambles it is today.

From: W Ruddlesden, Upper Hoyland Road, Hoyland, Barnsley.

ONCE again, the futility of the Afghan war is exposed by the tragic death of two soldiers from our region. In the time Taliban forces have been fighting Russian and Western forces, surely our military intelligence could pinpoint the source of their firepower capabilities.

As with the alleged WMD in the ongoing Iraq inquiry, only covert technical knowledge could have ensured the production of such weapons. In the more recent scenario, North Korea and Iran now have nuclear strike facilities gleaned from beyond their own borders.

Water torture for residents

From: Rick Summer, Cliff Road, Hornsea.

IT was with great delight that I read (Yorkshire Post, February 3) that water engineers and sanitation experts from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are visiting Yorkshire to meet experts to share ideas on issues such as clean water and sewage treatment. This is wonderful news for residents of South Holderness.

Everyone there is hoping against hope that Yorkshire Water will be able to learn something about sanitation from the visitors and then perhaps the foul smells which have been emanating from the Saltend sewage treatment plant can be cured. After all, Yorkshire Water has spent huge sums of money and time on this plant and it is still often impossible for local people to sit in their gardens due to the dreadful stench. Perhaps our African visitors will teach our water company how to do their job.

Unhelpful treatment

From: Ruth Manning, Long Meadows, Bramhope.

A FEW weeks ago, the local health service was urging us to use our local minor injuries units for falls and bumps rather that travelling to hard-pressed accident and emergency departments.

However, as I discovered the other Saturday, our local unit is operating an age limit – no over-65s with certain injuries. I took my aunt to the Otley minor injuries unit after a fall but she was refused entry by the nurse at reception despite the fact that the unit was completely empty and there was even a doctor standing there.

We then went to the very busy Harrogate A&E where we had to wait more than three hours for my aunt to have her cuts stitched and dressed. I was truly appalled. What about universal health care for all? Not in Otley.

A caring and genuine welcome from Yorkshire folk

From: Gillian E Smith, High Park Boulevard, Toronto, Canada.

I VISITED Yorkshire in January. It was cold, wet, windy and dark, but the people were wonderful, as open, straightforward and helpful as they have always been.

I was born at Linton-on-Ouse in 1948, but moved to Vancouver and Toronto, Canada in 1967. I have been back several times, most often in warmer weather.

On January 15, the snow on the road from York to Boroughbridge was just melting. A fellow passenger lifted my suitcase on to the bus at York as if I was a friend. As the bus travelled along the centre of small country roads water splashed over the sides – I couldn't see except from the front windows.

Fellow passengers said they would let me know when I got to

Boroughbridge, and one woman said it was icy, but they were being met by a car and would drive me to my destination.

As we reached Boroughbridge, the man lifted my suitcase out of the bus, and I met the friend I was visiting. I stayed at The Crown, close to the bus stop. I saw little ice during my stay but appreciated the kindness.

At Skipton, in rain and wind, we asked a market stall owner where to get a taxi. He directed us to The Red Lion, a nice warm place where they phoned a Dalesman Taxi. The weather at a memorial garden was wet and cold, but people were friendly and helpful.

Yorkshire has changed a great deal since I lived there. Health, education, plumbing, heating and transport are noticeably improved. I am glad the core principles of Yorkshireness, the open, sincere caring and genuineness have not changed. I hope they never do.

Dogma and common sense

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

JOHN Watson dismisses the Government's equality laws which have upset the Pope as "a whim of the permissive society" (Yorkshire Post, February 6)

Were, then, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and legislation to liberate women in the workplace also no more than a whim?

What religious fundamentalists are demanding is a special dispensation to place women and homosexuals at a disadvantage, on the basis of dogma which flies in the face of humanity and common sense.

Moreover, if your correspondent believes that Harriet Harman's Bill "opposes all (the Pope] stands for", he is doing the Roman Catholic Church a great disservice.

Road risks

From: Godfrey Lomas, Eldwick, Bingley, West Yorkshire.

IN this recent foggy weather, I have felt relieved that a stroke eight years ago removed the need for me to drive 50 miles a day commuting to work.

These days, I experience traffic when driven by others. Perhaps it is part of the modern selfish nature of mankind that drivers do not see the need to alert others to their presence by driving in their silver mist coloured cars without lights.

The other thing that alarms me as my driver(s) react is the feeling that it is not necessary to indicate when approaching a road junction or when leaving a roundabout, even if your car is in the wrong lane.

Film dangers

From: Margaret Bussey, Bridefield Avenue, Bradford.

I HEARTILY agree with June Wolfe's condemnation of the availability of vile and horrific films (Yorkshire Post, February 1) and I echo her plea for censorship – stricter and more effective. The much maligned Mary Whitehouse was not far wrong in her predictions. It's a pity that she was not heeded.