YEP Letters: June 12

Check out today's YEP letters

Mrs May has no mandate to stay

John Appleyard, Liversedge

Theresa May called a General Election with a lead in the opinion polls of 20 per cent and predictions of a landslide victory by her friends in the media.

Theresa May sank to the gutter in this election with her day to day personal insults of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who in contrast behaved impeccably producing a brilliant manifesto, which unlike the Tories, was fully costed, and led the campaign brilliantly. Labour is now strengthened in Parliament receiving its highest share of the vote since 1997, Labour’s 10 per cent increase in popular support during a campaign is the biggest increase in British electoral history.

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May has no mandate to stay; like Elvis she should leave the building and close the door behind her.

Devolved Yorkshire too unmanageable

Lionel Pyrah, by email

IN a recent interview Jonathan Oxley of the Institute of Directors said the new Government needs to “set the conditions for economic growth in Yorkshire and the Humber, the wider Northern Powerhouse and other UK regions’”.

Of course, he is right; sustained regional growth and improved infrastructure in this part of the world is essential for the prosperity of its population.

However, the Yorkshire and the Humber chairman also added that Westminster should establish a “clearer framework for devolved government generally, including the mayoral role”.

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In my view, this is the wrong option for Yorkshire as a whole and a move which I believe would lead to administrative chaos and economic disaster, and should be resisted at all costs.

A devolved Yorkshire would simply be too remote and unmanageable – and should not be a ‘very special case’ as Mr Oxley would have it.

The former metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Merseyside for example, have, over several years, developed into ‘city regions’ and will eventually become cities in their own right.

Such an outcome awaits Leeds and Sheffield if the nettles are grasped after the dithering has ceased. Although these are embryonic days, it would be better surely to follow a system on the lines of the successful London model than rely on Government handouts.

May should visit Spain

Tony Winstanley, Castleford

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Theresa May is quoted in Wednesday’s YEP as saying: “I’ve always said that a woman should be able to choose how she dresses. What I think is important, though, is that women are able to participate fully in society and aren’t treated as second-class citizens and, of course, one of the things that we do see is women who are living here but don’t speak English.” I would recommend that she visits southern Spain, and the Spanish islands. She’ll find tens of thousands of British women living there who don’t speak Spanish. That’s okay though, eh?

Misguided military forays

DS Boyes, Leeds 13

THE truest words spoken in the election campaign were by Jeremy Corbyn in attributing the Manchester atrocity to past political failings of this country, notably over misguided military forays in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.

Did Tony Blair or David Cameron really believe that removing dictators who had seized power by coup d’état then held it by force for decades that the resulting vacuum would be filled by democracy, instead of the anarchy and violence that prevails today, when here it took over 700 years from Magna Carta for even the Universal Male Franchise at age 21 to be established?

Some of the blood lies on the hands of both these ex-prime ministers, they now coining the money in, while the resentment they created in North Africa and the Middle East over the deaths of many thousands of innocent Iraqi and Libyan civilians boils over into attacks here by suicide bombers etc.

Student vote distorted result

Ralph Lennard, Leeds

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How can it be democratic that students who are only temporary residents in any consistency influence an election so much?

It’s now June and a lot of these students are finishing the course they have been doing for the last few years and will be going home soon.

Surely, they should be registered at their original home address and then have a postal vote?

In my view this has distorted the election result particularly in cities such as Leeds which has a large transient student population.

United where terror seeks to divide us

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Dr Mohammed Ali OBE, Chief executive, QED Foundation, Bradford.

IT has been heartening to see how the British public have refused to turn on their Muslim neighbours in the wake of recent terrorist attacks.

In Manchester, people of all races and faiths united against those who sought to divide them. Londoners are showing the same solidarity and resilience after this weekend’s tragedy.

There have been a few calls for Muslims to speak out and condemn these acts. But that is not easy when you are reeling with shock, concerned about the victims and their families at the same time as fearing the possible repercussions on your own community.

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Many people simply do not know how to express their sorrow and repulsion at these savage and brutal acts supposedly carried out in the name of their religion.

As founder and chief executive of the charity QED Foundation, I do not seek to represent Britain’s Muslims. We do not support followers of any one faith but help to create a more cohesive and peaceful society where everyone – regardless of their religion or ethnic background – can make a valuable contribution to public life and share in the nation’s prosperity.

But I do know that Muslims we work with – like those across the UK – are appalled by the recent atrocities and want to do everything in their power to work with the authorities to prevent future attacks.

Now, more than ever, it is important that we unite in the face of escalating levels of terrorism.

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Britain’s Muslim communities could be important allies in the fight against extremism – but first they must be invited to the table.

Muslims must stand up and be counted

Chris Ramus, Harrogate

I TOTALLY agree with Theresa May when she says “enough is enough”.

The Manchester bombing of young children and their parents was a game changer. It’s a great shame it has taken three recent tragic events to bring everyone to this point.

The answer here lies within the Muslim community itself. For far too long the Muslim community has come out with too many meaningless phrases like “Not in our name”.

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However you dress this up, it is in the Muslim name and it’s time for the whole Muslim faith to come together and put a stop to this madness in our society, and in the wider world.

The answer lies in the mosques. I want to see the best of the Muslim community and I would like to see it sooner rather than later.

So I say this to the leaders of the Muslim faith – let’s see you stand up for what’s right, do the decent thing and help us stamp out this curse in our society.

Let us know what you think

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