We need a transport plan to drive our recovery – Yorkshire Post Letters

POLITICIANS who try to make political capital from the virus outbreak do nothing to help the situation.

It is a peculiarly British habit for such enormous numbers to commute by rail and road into our major cities, not just from the local area but for substantial distances across the country.

Much smaller numbers of our French and German neighbours would consider a long daily journey a preferable option to being at home with their families.

More than one million people use the London Underground every day under normal circumstances which is one
of the reasons why our capital city is such a successful and vibrant centre of business and culture.

Our public transport and health services have too often operated on a minimum cost basis, whereas in Europe, the public policy has been to decide what standard of service is necessary and to spend whatever it takes to deliver necessary improvements.

None of our political parties can claim to have shown interest in the same course of action when in government, with the result that we have fallen into the trap set by the Covid-19 virus.

From: Martin J. Phillips, Tinshill Lane, Leeds.

SO Boris Johnson has ordered yet another pointless commission to investigate racism (The Yorkshire Post, June 16).

Like the Windrush inquiry it will be a whitewash with blame being placed everywhere but where it lay i.e. with the David Cameron-led government 
(aided and abetted by Nick Clegg).

While the Windrush scandal – initiated by the Cameron/Clegg government – led to many British residents being deported, their discrimination against the disabled led to hundreds of suicides and thousands of disabled people being forced from their homes and into living on the street.

Sadly, the discrimination of the Government has recently been extended to include
the elderly who have been sacrificed during the Covid-19 outbreak.

From: C J Ball, Finkil Street, Hove Edge, Brighouse.

ON Monday, as I stood patiently in the orderly queue to enter our local fruit and veg shop, I reflected on the fact that the last time I had done so was with my mother, who held my child’s reins in one hand and her ration book in the other.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor