YP Letters: No foundation to visions of Brexit doom

Where does your regular Brexit doom and gloom contributor Don Burslam get his intimate knowledge of the EU from? It seems a likely source could be the ‘cross my palm with silver’ brigade on Scarborough sea front. The simple fact is no one has a crystal ball to see the future.

For millions of true Englishmen, having the freedom to make our own decisions is paramount.

From: Nick Martinek, Briarlyn Road, Huddersfield.

There is little doubt that the general election on June 8 will be, in effect, a second referendum. That is because many politicians, including Tony Blair, Nick Clegg and Michael Heseltine, have not honoured the Leave vote in the 2016 Referendum, instead vowing to overturn the result, or keep us partly in the EU.

Yet a “soft” Brexit is a fake Brexit. If the whole of the UK remains subject to EU legal supremacy, the EU courts and must continue to pay into the EU, then we have not really left.

Suppose we had voted Remain by the same margin (52:48). Would Remain activists and politicians accept that we should leave the CAP and CFP, and only remain in the single market? To just ask the question is to demonstrate the absurdity of the current Remain position.

Unfortunately the Remains, and the EU, have been encouraged by the timid responses from Theresa May’s government. Just two examples: she has failed to adequately confront the fake Brexit propaganda, and equally failed to laugh off the self-serving EU demands for the UK to pay a “Danegeld” bribe to the tune of £52 billion.

Leave is not yet a done deal: we have to vote (again!) to make sure it is.

Mobile users undeterred

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

So much for the government’s much trumpeted clampdown on drivers using mobile phones by increasing the penalties.

I live near a residential home for the elderly and frequently see delivery drivers leaving there after making a delivery chatting away on their mobiles, obviously contacting the next drop.

This morning having set off up a narrow part of the road which was clear I was soon met by a large white van, the driver of which was again chatting on his mobile. Clearly he had been so engrossed that he hadn’t noticed my car. I had to reverse into a space so he could pass, not even a raised hand in thanks as both were otherwise engaged.

Without police officers on patrol – and we simply don’t have them here – any law affecting drivers can safely be ignored in rural areas like ours.

Unfair claim on book fines

From: John Watmough, Ainsty Road, Wetherby.

I feel your headline article ‘Students pay out £600,000 in library book fines’ (The Yorkshire Post, April 17) lacks balance.

At Leeds Beckett University, for example, it is possible to borrow books over an extended period without incurring any fines.

All that is required is for students to renew their loans every four weeks. This is a simple, straightforward procedure.

It is the student’s responsibility to return books. Any library is within their rights to charge for non-renewed or returned books.

There is no need for universities to ‘defend’ these fines as you suggest.

Regrettably, your article fell below the standards expected from The Yorkshire Post due to a lack of journalistic research and investigation.

Denied X-ray due to weight

From: Andrew Suter, Station Road. Ampleforth, York.

I refer to your lead article recently concerning delaying health care to smokers and obese people, in North Yorkshire.

I recently visited my local GP concerning hip pain, he stated he was unable to refer me for an X-ray to confirm arthritis due to my BMI being 30 and I therefore fall foul of the latest health trust decision to delay referrals for six months.

My GP prescribed an antibiotic inflammatory drug which to be fair is doing the trick and giving pain relief, for now.

I find it somewhat odd to presume that based on my BMI I am a couch potato. I walk my dogs for around an hour in total most days. I go walking as a pastime on a weekly basis. Along with this ‘inactivity’ I also swim three or four times a week at my local pool, covering about a mile a week.

I feel it is about time there was some national clarification about restricting access to medical services.

I am also surprised that this decision has not been tested as to its legitimacy.

Actions 
not words

From: R Urquhart, High Hunsley, Cottingham.

When all is said and done, more will be said than done.

Let these words serve as a lesson to us all as we consider the most trustworthy party to get our vote on June 8.

We must think carefully as to who is the best bet to “do” rather than just “say” or promise.