YP Letters: Austerity was due to Labour profligacy

From: Kath Palmer, Cookridge, Leeds.
Is it right to blame Theresa May for the Grenfell tragedy?Is it right to blame Theresa May for the Grenfell tragedy?
Is it right to blame Theresa May for the Grenfell tragedy?

I READ with disbelief the cutting sentiments of our new Labour MP in Leeds North West, Alex Sobel, regarding the Grenfell fire in which he effectively blamed the Tory government for the tragedy.

Mr Sobel, please remember: all the austerity of the last few years has been because of one thing only – your Labour government practically bankrupted the country and as a result, the Conservative government had to pick up the pieces, hence the unavoidable cuts to public services.

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Do you think the Tories like dishing out cuts? Why would they not just promise everything to everyone like your leader?

All I can say is if Mr Corbyn ever becomes Prime Minister, then God help us all. The Government that follows would have to do a lot more than cut services to put us back on track. In fact, once the younger generation realise what he is about and get rid of him, it could then take a further generation to put the country back on track – if ever.

From: Martin J. Phillips, Tinshill Lane, Leeds.

WHILE this Government has continued to punish the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor all under the ruse of “austerity”, it turns out that there isn’t any austerity after all – as clearly shown by the Government’s ability to find £1bn to buy the votes of 10 DUP MPs.

I also note that the Government has managed to find £45.6m to fund the Queen for the next 12 months. That represents a rise in the Sovereign Grant of 57 per cent since 2012.

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We also have to add on the money that the Government has to find for Royal ‘hangers-on’ such as Princess Beatrice, so the real total is around £300m per year.

The Government is also able to find £560m a year to cover the cost of re-assessing disabled and sick people for their capability for work.

It will be interesting to see if the Government is as forthcoming when it comes to ensuring that tower blocks across the UK are re-clad with fire resistant materials and that other necessary precautions such as sprinklers are installed.

From: Derrick Bond, Shadwell, Leeds.

I’M one of those grumpy, dyed-in- the-wool Little Englanders who happens to love his country and had the audacity to vote to leave the EU.

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When all the oldies have moved on to their retirement castles in the sky, then the younger generation can live in their socialist paradise.

The money tree will continue to grow like Jack’s beanstalk, and there will be free holidays in Cuba and Venezuela for all under-25s.

The irony is that if I was a youngster, I might well have been seduced by cuddly Uncle Jeremy.

My maxim is, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. I hope by the time reality dawns it’s not too late.

From: James Clabby, Cottingham.

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DURING an interview with Sir Michael Fallon, the subject of the £1.5bn for Northern Ireland was raised. The Defence Secretary justified the payment as a necessary investment, as Northern Ireland lagged behind Scotland and Wales in development.

While this may be correct, would they have still received this level of payment if the Government did not need their vote?

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

IT beggars belief that we’ve just launched an aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, bigger than any warship we ever had in either the Second World War or during the Cold War. For the threat to this country is from internatonal terrorism, not someone else’s navy.

Given the pressures of spending on the NHS, elderly care and improving dangerous housing, we shouldn’t be wasting more than a billion pounds on a military folly.

From: Nick Martinek, Briarlyn Road, Huddersfield.

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“A VOTE to leave will push our economy into a recession”. So said then Chancellor George Osborne in the run-up to the referendum.

Note to the few Remainers still attempting to block Brexit: he didn’t say a recession when we leave the EU, but a recession when we “vote to leave”.

It hasn’t happened. The whole basis of the Remain campaign has proved to be false. Here we are a year after the Leave vote with two per cent growth. Hope has triumphed over fear.

Indeed, the Lib Dems’ paltry result of 12 seats in the general election shows there is no enthusiasm for their Remain speciality of regarding 17.4 million of us Leave voters as not knowing what we voted for.

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Almost all the political parties lost, so there is no approval for any of the individual manifestos. The only mandate that transcends the failed parties is the one given directly by the electorate in the Referendum: leave the EU. With that instruction, the UK cannot remain in the EU or in any part of it, after mid-2019.

From: Jack Mynors, Sheffield.

IT is essential that in this time of austerity that councils get best value for taxpayers’ money.

It is disappointing then to find that Sheffield Council has not seen fit to apply this common sense to the running of the library service.

Our staffed libraries are thriving despite cutbacks to staff and stock. In comparison, Sheffield volunteer libraries have seen huge decreases in visits. They have also failed to become self-funding as per the council’s original plan in 2014.

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Our council’s response to this has been to cut another £98,000 from the library staff budget this year, in stark contrast to the funding of over £200,000 per year being given to prop up volunteer libraries.

The failure of Sheffield’s volunteer libraries to become self-funding even to a limited degree proves the volunteer-led model is not sustainable in the long term. A rethink is needed.