YP Letters: More food for thought over Brexit issues

From: Dr Alastair Cook, Austwick.
Which leaders do you admire and respect?Which leaders do you admire and respect?
Which leaders do you admire and respect?

THE article by Professor Matthew Flinders (The Yorkshire Post, January 29) gives considerable food for thought.

In 2016, at the only ‘Brexit’ hustings I attended, when ‘Remain’ was widely expected to win, I asked Owen Paterson MP if there was enough talent left to govern the country. He answered an unequivocal ‘yes’.

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I think the true answer is now blatantly obvious. What makes it worse is not only do we have a fatuity of a government but we have no credible opposition either.

Perhaps Professor Flinders might like to consider the thesis that over the last 45 years the quality of our politicians has declined by atrophy. When government is, de facto, in Brussels, we do not need (or get) capable government or politicians.

From: Carol Barton, Pocklington.

IT seems that some of your contributors to the letters page (The Yorkshire Post, February 1) are still fighting the Second World War – a war that finished before I was born and I’m in 
my 70s!

Europe is not our enemy and leaving is not a repeat of our glorious victory in 1945. Some of your contributors use language that in another context might be seen as racist, particularly about the Germans, most of whom were, like me, not alive during the war, and who, unlike certain older English people, fail to regard the defeat of Germany as an eternal sign of their inherent inferiority.

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There has been a ceaseless drip, drip of negative publicity for Europe ever since the referendum by which we entered it, supported by wealthy people who didn’t accept the result of that referendum.

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

AS an evermore fervent member of his “anti-Brexit brigade”, please let me assure Chris Grayling that his fall from public favour pre-dates Brexit (The Yorkshire Post, February 1).

No doubt he will recall his days as Prisons Minister and his wheeze of restricting inmates’ access to books. This convinced many of us that he was someone whose mindset as a human being and public servant was somewhat flawed. Fortunately the High Court proved to be more enlightened.

Shortly after the referendum, he became Secretary of State for Transport and made that well-poisoned chalice even 
more toxic.

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His manipulation of the English language is malignant, yet his skill is grudgingly admirable in a completely negative sort of way. Tom Richmond’s dubbing of him as ‘Macavity’ – TS Eliot’s cat “who always has an alibi and one or two to spare” continues to fit the bill perfectly.

From: Frank Saggerson, Wood Lane, Bramley, Rotherham.

AFTER two and a half years of Brexit, I really cannot believe that it is still being considered.

From my indecision at the refrendum to the current date, I have seen or heard nothing to persuade me that it is the right course of action.

Theresa May has made a valiant effort to achieve a worthwhile option but is now clutching at straws in face of growing realisation that it would be catastrophic to leave.

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From a personal viewpoint I have noticed just a few adverse effects already – the pound was devalued, savings interest rates were halved and grocery bills have increased by about 20 per cent.

Haulage contractors are warning that new regulations will create major problems – and now we have the daft idea of creating parking space for vehicles waiting for customs.

Have politicians any idea of the cost of a HGV and driver sat waiting for even a short time?

From: John Riseley, Harcourt Drive, Harrogate.

YVETTE Cooper warns Theresa May not to play chicken (Bill Carmichael, The Yorkshire Post, February 1). As a keen supporter of equal pay, what would be her advice to women who feel they are being treated unfairly by an employer?

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Should they meekly accept what is offered or indicate that they are prepared to walk away?

Would Ms Cooper’s trade union affiliated colleagues agree that the option of strike action be ruled out ahead of any industrial negotiation?

The game of chicken is a dangerous diplomatic art. Henry Kissinger reportedly suggested that to win a leader should cultivate an image of being reckless and irrational. In that case, the EU has a clear advantage.

From: Anthony Hopkins, Guiseley.

I WOULD respectfully suggest Theresa May urgently sends for England rugby coach Eddie Jones to join her team in the renegotiations. He did a fair job last Saturday engineering the demolition of the Irish backstop.

From: JA King, Thurgoland, Sheffield.

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WHY do we need a backstop with regards to the Irish border when Switzerland has five EU countries on its border, and with no such backstop? Could the imposition of the Irish backstop be to keep control of the UK?

From: David Hyde, Skipton.

WITH reference to the page in your magazine promoting your ‘Yorkshire voices’ (The Yorkshire Post, February 2), could you do the same for your photographers? The feature photos by Simon Hulme, and the consistantly high-quality landscapes by Bruce Rollinson to name but two, are always to be admired.

From: Ian Smith, Colston Close, Bradford.

THANK goodness it’s been snowing – it’s something different for the BBC to tell us to be weary of. Presenters patronisingly telling us to wrap up and not to go out unless it’s absolutely necessary – in the same vein as their boring Brexit threats.