YP Letters: Columnist's clear case on EU's failings

CAN I publicly congratulate your columnist Bill Carmichael (The Yorkshire Post, October 26) for 
his excellent synopsis of everything that is wrong and abhorrent with the EU?

He is quite right to berate the unelected and unelectable bureaucrats running the EU.

Bill Carmichael: Forget Brexit - the bullying of Italy could seal EU’s fate

Not only are they overpaid but their anti-British arrogance is appalling. We are frequently seeing on our TV news programmes the disgusting way they are dismissive of the democratic views of 17.5 million British citizens, considering those views as being totally irrelevant and the result of our national ignorance.

Perhaps they are afraid that when we finally make good our escape from this nightmare, that their lucrative positions on the Brussels gravy train are in danger of evaporating along with the whole of the collapsing EU superstate.

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Thankfully the Italian people now have a democratically-elected government whose leaders are not afraid to tell the interfering busybodies from Brussels exactly what they can do with their directives.

This brave act of defiance by our Italian friends will, I hope, start an avalanche of resistance, causing a European-wide cataclysmic collapse of the whole bureaucratic nightmare.

From: Andrew Sanderson, Church Street, Netherthong, Holmfirth.

BILL Carmichael’s column on the bullying of Italy was a great read and a full justification as to why we are right to leave the EU – an unelected, unaudited entity to which we contribute a fortune.

The EU’s ability to impose its financial will on an elected government is amazing. Everybody is concentrating on a trade arrangement with the EU, when the real reason, and benefit of Brexit, is to regain Parliamentary control, sovereignty and the right to manage our borders.

A great article, which shows why the EU is doomed in the long term without dramatic restructuring.

From: Keith Punshon, Willow Bridge Lane, Dalton, Thirsk.

I ALWAYS look forward to the disclosure of Cabinet and other papers 30 years after the event, to read what went on in Government behind closed doors.

I wonder if that will be the case with the meetings between UK politicians and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiatior.

Did Tony Blair, Vince Cable and Nick Clegg brief the EU on how best to play the British to undermine and reverse the referendum result? It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall when the DUP had their encounters. I wonder how far they pressed the EU to make a single concession to the UK to preserve the Good Friday agreement? Or even a single concession on anything of substance?

From: Hilary Andrews, Nursery Lane, Leeds.

ONCE again our Commonwealth friends have shown us how to deal with difficult situations. I totally agree with ex-Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, that Theresa May has let herself be bullied by the EU into being afraid of a no deal situation as we leave the non-democratic EU (The Yorkshire Post, October 26).

The EU is on its last legs and many members are unhappy with the way they impose their ideas on different countries. Be bold, Mrs May, lay down your proposal and walk away if they don’t agree.

Can HS2 meet future needs?

From: Ron Firth, Campsall.

AS information is released concerning the plans to develop the capacity of King’s Cross to cope with travellers’ requirements in the future, I feel it is vital that we ensure that these developments fulfil all those needs.

We hear that the supporters of HS2 are now suggesting that they are more concerned with increasing capacity rather than just shortening the journey time to London from the North.

HS2 may well achieve this, but the downside is that many recently-built houses in South Yorkshire will have to be demolished and much of the valuable arable land and historic buildings along the way will suffer from the proximity of the new lines.

Surely the existing East Coast Main Line can provide a reduced journey time once the new electro-diesel Azuma trains are introduced at the turn of the year?

Would it not be possible to add another two carriages to each train to provide extra capacity? This may well necessitate platform extensions at the main stations en route, particularly at King’s Cross but, as part of the £780m committed to the improved speed, capacity and comfort on the ECML, it would seem an appropriate expenditure.

The second priority must be the trans-Pennine route between Hull and Liverpool, linking in the major industrial towns and cities along the way. After Brexit, both Hull and Liverpool should be handily placed, as should Bristol, Newcastle and Felixstowe, for imports and exports to Scandinavia, Northern Europe and North America, Canada etc, reducing the dependence on the South East and on the road haulage journeys from the southern ports.

Our MPs need to forget party politics and rally behind the country’s needs to get a fair deal out of Europe.

Their constituents require no less and, if we are seen to be taking steps to prevent log jams at Calais and Dover, it will surely help our negotiating position.

Off target on grouse moors

From: Brian Herbert, Old Edlington, Doncaster.

ON reading the article by GP Taylor referring to banning grouse shooting (The Yorkshire Post, October 24), it is quite clear that this man knows nothing whatsoever about nature, country life or the environment.