YP Letters: Donald Tusk should heed Britain's war sacrifice over Brexit

DON’T let his English-sounding name fool you: Donald Tusk, the Polish unelected President of the European Council who humiliated Theresa May at Salzburg, is no friend of Britain. He is a particularly malevolent character who oozes an oleaginous menace.

And let me tell this Pole something he has forgotten: our country declared war on the might of Nazi Germany, all because Germany had invaded one country. And that country? It was Poland, of course.

Does Tusk think that if the roles had been reversed and Germany had invaded Britain in September 1939, that Poland would have declared war on the Nazis? Of course he doesn’t: and he knows furthermore that in 1940 Britain stood alone against a military force much stronger than the current 27 can muster. Our very existence was at stake back then.

The countries of Europe are graced with British war graves. Our young men lie under their white crosses in their scores of thousands, so that Europe would not be under Nazi control.

Somehow, one also suspects that many of those now calling for a second referendum, would – had they been alive at the time of Dunkirk – have happily sued for peace with Adolf Hitler. Leave means leave.

From: John Hall, Pennithorne Avenue, Baildon.

WHEN it becomes clear what Theresa May means by “Brexit means Brexit”, there should be a second referendum.

To anyone who asks why not a third, fourth, fifth etc, I would say yes, bring them on, but only if necessary to do so, for example if there were a major change in our relationship with the EU.

I don’t envisage the need for more than a second referendum, something essential for our so-called “democracy”.

From: Dave Croucher, Pinfold Gardens, Doncaster.

IT is time to make a stance. If the EU had not been so bombastic in the first place, this situation would not have arisen, they 
can’t grasp that one size does 
not fit all.

Labour needs to be cleansed

From: Malcolm Naylor, Ilkley.

CONCERNING the criticism of a left-wing takeover of Leeds Council.

For too long Leeds Council in particular, and politics in general, has been infiltrated by a fifth column of right-wing capitalists.

I had the misfortune to witness this moral corruption at Leeds in the 1990s when the conduct of the Labour Party was a disgrace. I fear this still continues.

The past Labour leadership was full of closet Tories who are still given airtime to express their views – failed politicians like Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Alastair Campbell.

Jeremy Corbyn is getting the support he needs and deserves. The sooner we have a spiritual cleansing at Leeds Labour, and Westminster, the better.

From: Hilary Andrews, Nursery Lane, Leeds.

IT is reported that local councils are losing funding (The Yorkshire Post, September 21) and they will need to rely on volunteers to suggest ways to save money.

I was invited to be part of a focus group to suggest ways to improve the diet of senior citizens in Leeds.

Along with six other older people, we turned up at Age UK in Leeds for our meeting with a member of the council. No sign of that person and we subsequently found out he/she was on holiday!

What are the chances of any of the suggestions we made, and sent to the council, being implemented? Oldies, don’t hold your breath.

Nuts to let rip at hedgerow

From: Christopher Moore, Wolfe Close, Cottingham.

AFTER returning from four relaxing days on the Isles of Scilly, I said to my wife: “I’m going for a walk down Low Road to check on the crop of hazelnuts.”

Before I had passed the last house, I saw the beginning of a terrible sight which amounts to a mile or so of wreckage. The hedgerow had been cruelly and brutally massacred. Everything with a diameter of under three inches has been ripped down – even a mature oak had several branches left hanging there.

Field maple, elder, ash, oak, hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, dog-rose, bramble, ivy – all, now, unrecognisable shattered stumps. This wildlife habitat and winter food for insects, mammals and birds had been destroyed.

Along this road I have gathered brambles, elderflower (for cordial), elderberries (jam and cordial), sloes (gin), crab apples and hazelnuts. Not this year, nor next will I gather the wayside fruits which my mother taught me to harvest.

When will I next see yellow-hammers, tawny owls, wrens, long tailed tits or even sparrow and blackbirds? How can this destruction be allowed?

M-way off

From: Colin Jackson, Sandal, Wakefield.

I MUST object to the suggestion that the M1 motorway was Yorkshire’s first (The Yorkshire Post, September 21). The 15 miles of the A1(M) Doncaster Bypass, which opened in 1961, was seven years ahead of the M1, the last 35 miles of which, in Yorkshire, didn’t open until October 1968.