YP Letters: Don't moan if you didn't bother to vote in the Brexit referendum

I AM rarely motivated to write to the editor of a newspaper, however the letter from James Bovington of Horsforth (The Yorkshire Post, September 12) has pushed me onto the keyboard. Letter after letter from Remainers that are published in your newspaper point out that only 37 per cent of the total UK electorate voted to leave the EU, this was so.

This figure, of course, is based on the total number of registered voters. What Mr Bovington and like-minded usually fail to say is that only 34.7 per cent voted to remain using the same figures and method.

Also what is conveniently ignored in the calculation is that 27.79 per cent of the registered electorate chose not to vote at all. Now, apart from the old and infirm and absent (postal vote available), I assume they could not have been interested enough to vote. I guess this 27.79 per cent would contain a large number of 18 to 24-year-olds. My view is simple – if you don’t vote, don’t moan during your spell of indolence, the democratic decision has been made for you, like marriage, for better or for worse. Me, I voted to leave and would do so again. I am fully prepared to pay up the extra money required. Incidentally I have voted at every general election and referendum since 1961. Yes, in 1975, I voted to stay in the Common Market as it was then.

To forestall those who view the occupants of the shires to be short on the education required, I can only say, despite being born and bred in the same East Yorkshire sticks, and proud of it, I did manage to obtain an HNC and degree in Mechanical Engineering some 45/50 years ago. Part-time, I might add.

From: Colin Richardson, Brandesburton.

HAVING been a reader of The Yorkshire Post for a number of decades, I am finding it hard to recall a good news or happy headline. For obvious reasons Brexit takes up a lot of the news. Apart from one or two writers the majority fill their time writing about what may, might or could happen when we leave. There is not a ‘will happen’.

The general populace fully understand that Brussels will make it as hard as possible to leave as we are a contributor and our net contribution will be missed. Instead of the media making their job easier, wouldn’t it be more interesting if they started telling the EU what may, might, could etc, happen to them when we leave?

It’s time we started to let them know what they are losing.