YP Letters: Now it's God Help America

As I’ve grown older and wiser I’ve come to consider that most of the UK’s politicians are only really in politics purely for themselves and the financial rewards it brings – you only have to look at Blair for an example.

Sadly gone are the days when political parties were easily definable in their approach to ‘the working man’ as most of them describe us lowly creatures that struggle to survive thanks to their inept policies over the years.

However, having endured more than enough coverage of the American Trump vs Clinton election I have mildly revised my thoughts on our political system in that at least we do have some form of democracy, unlike America, whose politicians seem able to buy their way to power.

My impression now is that the average American seems politically blind to the ramifications of the way they vote – in fact it appears to me that if a wealthy politician tours the country financing a large entourage of cheerleaders with lots of pomp and ceremony plus catchy pop music blazing away; not to mention rousing editions of the Stars & Stripes and God Bless America and giving out red, white and blue banners and flags to wave – they will in their gullibility vote for him, regardless of what he or she comes out with.

I don’t know about God Bless America but maybe it should be God Help America.

Why we must ditch EU now

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

NIcola Sturgeon wants to stay in the Common Market ,and I have no problem with that idea, but the original Common Market is a far cry from what we have now.

The EU has taken away our control of our own laws and our way of trading. It has promulgated rules and regulations that depress trade instead of boosting it and worst of all has created the European Court of Human Rights that only benefit the criminal by forcing us to keep them instead of deporting them. By all means keep the Common Market but let’s get out of the EU soonest.

Users who abuse NHS

From: Mrs B J Cussons, Curly Hill, Ilkley.

May I congratulate Mr Hallas, whose recent letter (The Yorkshire Post, November 11) perfectly sums up that advances the medical profession has achieved over the years are leading to different problems in the NHS today?

This fine institution has been grossly abused by the people who it serves. Those same people constantly attack the Government for not producing more money. They ignore the fact that owing to wonderful advances in medicine they, the people, need to triple their own contribution to get the best out of those advances.

Many of us have suffered at some time or another from pressure on A&E. Many years ago I was shocked to hear two drunks discussing how they could get the doctor to say they were not fit for work on the Monday. Ever since I have felt that neither drunks nor drug addicts should have any treatment at all. And when the NHS was set up there were scarcely any drugs used in this country – all brought in from abroad by people who ruin their own country by growing and using drugs.

If anyone can afford to spend on drink and drugs they can afford to pay for the service it demands so that those who are ill through natural causes may use the NHS for its proper purpose.

Thanks are due to the thousands of volunteers who back up the medical charities without whom many would suffer more.

Questions on child poverty

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon.

A coalition of charities and civic organisations claim that benefit cuts are condemning an entire generation to child poverty (The Yorkshire Post, November 12).

Now there will certainly be many cases where help is needed, but there are surely many more where other questions need to be asked.

Some people seem happy to produce multiple children despite having no idea how they are to be supported, and simply expect the state to provide, without much, if any, thought of parental responsibility.

We also see single mothers with several offspring, and have to wonder just what is being done so that fathers provide support rather than the long-suffering taxpayer.

Emotive child poverty headlines are all very well, but rarely tell the whole story.

From: Chris Irish, Flaxton, York.

I find it unbelievable that you could have banner headlines (The Yorkshire Post, November 12) on child poverty and follow up information on the inside pages, including the Editorial, without once defining what child poverty actually is.

The articles are meaningless without base line facts.

Sensationalism of this nature does you, the paper and the county no favours.