YP Letters: May shows her steel in Brexit speech

Brexit ministers Liam Fox, Boris Johnson and David Davis.

I WAS ecstatic listening to the Prime Minister’s brilliant speech regarding our exit plan for escaping from the clutches of the European Union (The Yorkshire Post, January 19).

Congratulations to Mrs May for the calm, competent and clear way in which she delivered her speech. It is one of those great speeches, delivered in the true tradition of those other great British leaders Winston Churchill and Lady Thatcher. No waffle, no bull, just plain straight forward English, effectively giving the EU bureaucrats the message ‘the British are leaving and if you don’t like it, tough’.

Maybe now the posh, moaning left-wing liberals will have to come down from their Ivory towers and finally accept the fact that in our democracy the majority view is the only view that matters. It is quite clear that the vast majority of ordinary folks in the UK want Britain to leave that corrupt edifice and return all power to the elected government of the UK, and away from the junketing, overpaid and incompetent members of the EU bureaucracy.

Well done Prime Minister and hearty congratulations from God’s own county.

From: John Redfearn, Whitby Road, Pickering.

AT present, we have a Conservative party in power with a pair of safe hands in Theresa May. The Opposition is not capable of holding the Conservatives to account.

Preferable would be an opposition who, with self-discipline and not just concerned with low paid workers, could represent those who provide jobs and create the wealth for the benefit of all the country.

There are a number of capable MPs who would fit the bill – Hilary Benn, Caroline Flint, Chuka Umunna, Chris Bryant, Stephen Kinnock but sadly not Tristram Hunt who has resigned and has gone to run the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Prime Minister in her Downing Street opening speech wished to govern for all members of society. If in Parliament we had a functioning socialist party in opposition to a Conservative party, we could have more interesting and responsible debates. Both parties need to pull together before Brexit gets underway.

From: Nigel Boddy, Darlington.

ARE pro-Brexit newspaper groups inventing problems and news stories to damage the UK’s relations with our near- neighbours during the Brexit talks? This cannot be in the national interest.

Do these newspaper groups believe Britons are beginning to change their minds in large numbers after the referendum of June 23 last year? When one looks behind these front page headlines, all one finds is an alleged comment by a single British politician and sometimes not even that. This surely qualifies as a no news story.

From: Edward Grainger, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.

REGARDING the shortage of women in politics (Jayne Dowle, The Yorkshire Post, January 12), look at Theresa May, and all the problems over Brexit. I too feel sure have no wish to follow her example as she grapples with all that she has inherited from David Cameron.

From: John Fisher, Menwith Hill, Harrogate.

WHILE a member of the EU, the UK objected to the possible formation of a European Army but this country’s absence in the EU, after voting for Brexit, now allows the concept of a European Army to be considered.

A European Army could have some important economic and strategic advantages for all the EU members. Such an army would be more able to control the land and sea borders of the EU, and it would also help reduce US accusations of freeloading on the part of some Nato members.

It would also give a greater sense of security to small EU countries who share a border with Russia. A further advantage would be a new European military concept which both unified and protected EU members without threatening its neighbours.

City region is way forward

From: Lionel Pyrah, Cambridge Street, Normanton.

Various Parliamentary and civic figures have been advocating devolution for the whole of Yorkshire (The Yorkshire Post, January 14).

Might I suggest that although this idea may find favour with the majority if a referendum was ever to be held on the subject, it is definitely the wrong option in my view.

Firstly, and bearing in mind the Northern Powerhouse, city regions alone in the Yorkshire area are surely better able to provide the stimulus for economic growth and development than a county which is arguably too large to administer satisfactorily.

Cost effectiveness too would also be an important consideration, especially when dividing the Government’s massive cash injection to a host of diverse local authorities.

Secondly, it appears Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester have already  bitten the bullet, each opting to  take the billion pound bonanza on offer.

I firmly believe that was  the correct course of action; they are cities at the heart of their respective regions and  will appreciate instinctively  the, needs and aspirations of their own populations.

Moreover, a clear warning from the Northern Powerhouse minister that the Government’s handout will be removed  from the table if it is not  taken up this year should  be enough to focus town  hall representatives’ minds  in this regard, to say the  least!

Finally, I would respectfully urge the Leeds councillors, in particular, to take the city region route.

It’s not too late – and the advantages should be truly beneficial if the nettle is  grasped. Delay and dithering, on the other hand, may well prove disastrous.