YP Letters: Disturbing view of judges and MPs needs to be challenged

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.
Brexit remains the pre-eminent political issue.Brexit remains the pre-eminent political issue.
Brexit remains the pre-eminent political issue.

MY guess is that many people who question our judges’ circumspection with regard to Article 50 would defend British justice to the hilt, especially if it was in conflict with a foreign counterpart. Yet MPs and judges alike are excoriated by Phyllis Capstick for “not respecting and working for the will of the people” (The Yorkshire Post, November 23).

This disturbing populist view of the judiciary and parliament needs to be challenged. Learned judges are just that: uniquely qualified to interpret and apply the law of the land. As for the role of politicians, the best MPs do not go into politics to give the people what they want but because they have their own sincerely held personal views of what makes a better society.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Meanwhile Peter Hyde identifies the problem that the entire House of Commons was caught cold by the vote to leave the EU (The Yorkshire Post, November 24). I recall the terror on Boris Johnson’s face when he first heard the result. We now have an uncharacteristically coy Foreign Secretary and a formerly ubiquitous Secretary of State for Justice who has become almost invisible. I take issue with Mr Hyde, however, when he claims that if there is no “Conservative MP with the brains to cobble together a plan ‘the Remoaners’ will be the winners after all”. There will be no winners: we are all in it together now.

From: Gordon Lawrence, Stumperlowe View, Sheffield.

THE notion that June 23 was simply an advisory vote was never given a serious voice before or during the campaign. When I voted in the EU referendum, I believed that whichever way the outcome turned out the decision would be final and I believe an overwhelming majority of voters did.

That is the nature of a referendum. It is a direct vote to the people but don’t let the largest turnout (72 per cent) of voters since 1992, a majority of 1.3 million, interfere with the sanctimonious lobby that never condemned the EU’s daylight robbery of our sovereignty and democracy with leaders like Major, Blair, Brown, Clegg and even Cameron who allowed us to slip further into this mire of regulation.

From: Donald Webb, Rothwell.

DAVID Cameron was, without doubt, the most inept PM ever. He called a referendum with no plan for a leave result. Did he not realise that people who wanted a referendum were unhappy with the present situation and were going to vote leave?