See previous letters to the editor. If you would like to contact Yorkshire Bylines, email editor@yorkshirebylines.co.uk
Living in the past
11 June 2024
Dear editor,
Nigel Farage can try to defend, all he likes, his original statement (that the PM demonstrated that he did not understand British culture by leaving early from the D- Day commemorations) but there is no avoiding the fact that it is an unequivocally racist statement. He joins the likes of Enoch Powell and Norman Tebbit who infamously questioned the true allegiance of non-white footballers playing for England implying that they could never play as passionately for their country as white players.
These men yearn for a time (which of course never existed) when all English men and women were white. We live in a multiracial society where these views should have no place and be consigned to history. The views of Nigel Farage, and their implications, should be called out for what they are, racially motivated and deeply offensive.
Yours faithfully,
Justin Enthoven
Pateley Bridge
Make sure the next government is accessible to the Deaf community
10 June 2024
Dear editor,
The morning after the general election, 5 July, will be a historic moment for the UK. Whether it is delivered by a re-elected or newly elected prime minister, their speech to the nation will be a moment of national significance.
It’s a moment that should be accessible to every voter in the UK, including the 87,000 members of the Deaf community who use British Sign Language (BSL).
The Deaf community has continually been excluded during these key broadcasts from No. 10 because of the lack of a BSL interpreter. RNID has long tried to work with the government to ensure that access is provided for the Deaf community.
A public service announcement is just that, but by not including deaf people the prime minister is removing their right to have the information at the same time as everyone else.
RNID has written to both Sir Kier Starmer and Rishi Sunak offering them the use of our interpreter for their victory speech on 5 July. Their speech to the nation will be the start of a new chapter in our country’s history and they cannot lock the Deaf community out.
I encourage all your readers to join our call and sign our letter to make this election inclusive of everyone at rnid.org.uk
Yours faithfully,
Michael Quinlan
Advocacy Manager at RNID
Surprise snap election: desperate ploy or crafty plan?
25 May 2024
Dear editor,
Rishi Sunak was a hedge fund banker. He is doubtless highly intelligent and good at mathematics. Bankers are not necessarily good at economics. Sunak is certainly not good at politics. He’s frequently at odds with his own cabinet and is generally perceived as weak with his rebels.
The general election announcement angered most Conservative MPs. It was reported that letters were flooding in to the 1922 committee chair calling for Sunak to be replaced. Currently, 80 Tory MPs are stepping down, including Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom.
The five pledges Sunak made are not yet met, but he many feel the metrics are as good as they are going to be this year. NHS waiting lists continue to climb, but although immigration soared in 2023, there is some reduction this quarter. Inflation is close to the 2% target though it may not remain that low. The Rwanda bill has passed, at huge expense, but no flights will happen before the election.
Sunak will campaign on the theme that his plan is working, and Labour has no plan. A very thin argument. It is the Bank of England that has tackled inflation. What has Sunak done to promote growth? His small tax cuts have been utterly overshadowed by growth inhibitors caused by increased import and export costs driven by Brexit – for which Sunak was an enthusiast.
Labour has been castigated for policy reversals and changes, but they can point to the Tory destruction of the economy. By contrast, Rachel Reeves is a competent economist, having worked in the Bank of England and HBOS. Labour has put in many hard yards making partnerships with business and potential investors and any future manifesto is certain to be fully costed.
The polls put Labour 27% to 18% ahead. Sunak has taken quite a gamble.
Yours faithfully,
Geoff Thompson
Leaving the sinking ship
25 May 2024
Dear editor,
No wonder there is the perception that for many Conservative MPs, being in parliament is a smart career move that is only acceptable when in government and the going is good. The stark reality of life on the opposition benches has driven many to stand down.
Contrast that with the political careers of Harriet Harman, the MP for Camberwell and Peckham since 1982, or Margaret Hodge, who has represented Barking since 1994. They will have been part of so many swings in the fortunes of the Labour Party over the years and will have experienced both government and opposition. But they have remained true to their vocation to make a difference and represent their constituents. They are true parliamentarians and only retiring after long and distinguished careers, not jumping ship as soon as it all seems less attractive.
Yours faithfully,
Justin Enthoven
Harrogate
More than a quarter of deaf people ignored in public
7 May 2024
Dear editor,
Major new research from charity RNID has revealed the negative attitudes and behaviours that deaf people and people with hearing loss experience on a regular basis.
The research of 8,151 people found that more than a quarter (27%) of deaf people and people with hearing loss are ignored by most people in public settings.
More than two thirds (67%) told us they have experienced negative attitudes or behaviours in the last year, and almost half (48%) said they also experience this from their own family members.
54% said people tell them ‘It doesn’t matter’ when they struggle to understand, which we know can make people feel like they don’t matter. 47% have experienced people shouting at them.
The impact of this can be huge: people tell us they feel excluded, lonely, and disrespected. Often these experiences cause people to withdraw, to avoid others, and even hide that they are deaf or have hearing loss.
We want people across the UK to stand with us and say that the way deaf people and people with hearing loss are treated really does matter. We know the public want to help, so we’re urging people to follow our three simple tips to be more inclusive, and learn some simple BSL phrases for everyday conversation. To get involved, visit rnid.org.uk
Yours faithfully,
Crystal Rolfe,
Director of Strategy at RNID
Johnson hoist by his own petard
3 May 2024
Dear editor,
Only a few days ago I wrote about the requirement to present photo ID in order to cast a vote in elections. In the meantime the local elections have been held on 2 May. And voters had to present a photo ID.
At least one person ‘forgot’ to bring and present such an ID. This person was a certain Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. Some people may remember that this person has been the prime minister of the United Kingdom for a short time, and that his government has made photo ID a requirement as part of the Elections Act introduced in 2022.
So, what does this say about Johnson? As usual he thinks that he is not bound by rules and regulations, and that he can do what he wants. He has proved this more than once. And it shows that he cannot remember, and does not care about what he has done while he was in No 10. Admittedly, nobody can remember all these tinyand unimportant things which have been done while in office. There are more important things to remember – wallpaper for example.
Or can forgetting to bring a photo ID be excused with beginning age-related dementia? I don’t know. But I am sure that his fans (yes, he still has some) will excuse it as usual by saying “this is just Boris”.
I just like the irony that the man, who was responsible for introducing this rule, was caught out by ‘forgetting’ to following it.
It is said that Johnson returned later with the required ID and was able to vote. But I wonder whether he has voted for the party which was responsible for adding this requirement to the Elections Act.
Yours faithfully,
Helmuth Porschen
Ministers choosing to electioneer rather than answer straight questions
4 March 2024
Dear editor,
Over the last couple of months there has been a marked shift in the response of government ministers when interviewed, especially on the BBC Today programme. They have clearly been instructed by No 10 to go on the attack against Labour regardless of what they are meant to be talking about.
Recently, a minister responsible for reducing the prevalence of knife crime spoke of new policy ideas playing down the question of why it had taken 14 years to produce a policy. His riposte was that the last Labour government had done nothing to confront the issue. Whether true or not he was clearly electioneering.
More recently, Mark Harper, the secretary of state for transport, was interviewed about his policy for directing funds saved from the cancellation HS2 to local authorities. The Today programme quoted a member of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership who stated that this policy was first launched back in October so could hardly be presented as something new. Harper dismissed this valid criticism as coming from the mouth of a Labour supporter and therefore biased not worth considering.
Harper was then asked whether the recent words of Lee Anderson, referring to the Mayor of London, were ‘Islamophobic’. As with the prime minister, he chose to avoid answering this question, but lost no time in stating that Sadiq Khan had been a disaster overseeing London’s transport and housing.
The government is putting all its energy into electioneering without the courage to call an actual general election. Shame on it!
With best wishes,
Justin Enthoven
Harrogate
Government action on flooding: too little, too late
13 February 2024
Dear editor,
Recent downpours have left local communities struggling with flooded roads, fields and watercourses. At the same time, Yorkshire Water continue to pump ‘dirty’ water (sewage) into our rivers and streams.
Today, Kevin Hollinrake reposted a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ‘tweet’ claiming that ‘Tougher action is needed to address poor performance by water companies’. This is the same MP who has repeatedly voted against making the water companies responsible for their actions.
Our water bills are set to increase by more than inflation (6% on average) in coming weeks. The government’s proposal to consider sanctioning water companies for sewage dumping after studiously ignoring years of underinvestment in infrastructure, allowing the creation of high debt levels, accepting large dividends being paid to shareholders and water bosses receiving huge bonuses.
Successive Conservative governments have allowed water companies to profit from the environmental damage they create. Remember this when the general election comes.
BA Southwell
Thirsk
Labour’s U-turn on the Green Investment Plan
11 February 2024
Dear editor,
Sir Keir Starmer has scuttled Labour’s flagship policy of investing £28bn per year on its Green Investment Plan. Since then too much media attention has been focused on Sir Keir’s flip-flopping and too little on the fact that the abandonment constitutes a huge loss.
The Labour decision appears to be a defensive one – avoiding Tory criticism of the cost and hence the need to either raise taxes or to borrow. What the media are underreporting and hence the UK general public are generally unaware of is the huge cost of NOT going ahead with this £140bn five-year programme.
Under present policies, unaugmented, the cost of NOT going further and faster rises, by 2100, to £168bn per year, of 7.4% of GDP. Shelving the Green Investment Plan is ‘penny wise, pound foolish’. The approach that should be taken is ‘does this investment give a rate of return higher than the cost of borrowing?’ Since the Green Investment Plan will almost certainly crowd in additional private investment and create good-quality jobs, the plan can be expected to give a rate of return of at least 10% whilst it will cost the government 5% to borrow. Some no-brainer! See also that estimate above of the huge cost of not investing.
The plan thus justifies itself in simple commercial terms. Alternatively it could be financed by increased taxation. Credible options exist to raise the funding necessary by imposing a one-off tax on higher levels of wealth (see work at Warwick University and the LSE). The wealth distribution in the UK has become increasingly unbalanced (in the first 18 months of the pandemic the number of billionaires in the UK rose from 147 to 171 – and has continued to rise). There is ready taxable capacity here.
Conservative chancellors love their fiscal rule that the national debt as a share of GDP should be falling over a five-year period. Respected economists are scathing about this rule – Paul Johnson, head of the Institute of Fiscal Studies describes it as “basically silly”. In an attempt to establish economic credibility Starmer and Rachel Reeves have signed up to this bad rule. In so doing they have allowed themselves to become corralled by Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt. We are fast reaching the point where it is difficult to distinguish between Labour and Conservative policy. And the country deserves better!
For 40 years now timid and unprincipled politicians have kicked the can of dealing with climate change down the road. To switch cliché, the world is now drinking in the last chance saloon on this issue. Governments have to act now, in a coordinated fashion, with huge vigour and determination. Otherwise our children and grandchildren will fry in a world humans are unable to inhabit.
My ideal outcome of the next UK election is that voters punish both the Conservative Party and Labour, with huge numbers of Liberal Democrat, Green and Nationalist MPs elected, to form a progressive coalition that had dealing effectively with climate change at the heart of its mission.
As for the sad residue of Tory and Labour MPs, they would be sent to sit on the opposition benches that would then constitute a sort of ‘dirty environment naughty stair’.
Yours faithfully,
John Cole
Bradford
How Mr Bates v The Post Office shone a light on an obscure corner of government
1 February 2024
Dear editor,
Paul Patterson of Fujitsu said the company had a moral obligation to contribute to victims of the Horizon scandal. In a meeting with MPs on 31 January, Takeshi Isobe, the chief financial officer, offered the company’s deepest apologies to sub-postmasters and their families. He said the company would monitor the outcome of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and seek to arrive at appropriate compensation.
The company had issued a statement stating that it would not bid for government contracts while the inquiry was ongoing. What is remarkable is that the inquiry resulted from a court ruling following an in-depth investigation by Mr Justice Fraser in late 2019. This was of crucial importance. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 placed the onus on prosecutors to prove that the computer evidence was correct. In 1999, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act reversed this, and the defendant had to prove the evidence was wrong. Fraser decided that he had heard enough to look much deeper, and in a landmark ruling found the Post Office to be at fault.
Fujitsu has a long history with government contracts, and not without controversy. A £12bn NHS IT system contract was abandoned after failure which is estimated to have cost the public purse £2.7bn. Fujitsu sued for compensation and was awarded £700mn. Not a contract I would have signed.
The history of Fujitsu’s IT supply relationship continued undiminished, with the company receiving £4.4bn worth of contracts since the 2019 High Court ruling against Horizon. It took a TV programme to stop the conveyor belt.
Normally in public procurement, tenders are awarded following a competitive tender process. With some major projects this can be impractical, and so a list of ‘preferred suppliers’ is used. There is evidence of personnel moving jobs between supplier and procurement positions, given their shared skillset, and effective scrutiny can be difficult. Cost overruns are common, particularly with defence projects.
Clearly, the potential pitfalls are obvious as the evidence would attest. Whatever the outcome of the current inquiry, scrutiny must surely be applied to the use of the public funds given to those awarded these enormous contracts. Ultimately, given the strong record of overrun, failure, and waste, searching questions must be asked about the integrity of the process.
Yours faithfully,
Geoff Thompson
History repeating itself
31 January 2024
Dear editor,
In the 1960s, Dr Richard Beeching spearheaded a restructuring of the UK’s national railway network, resulting in widespread closures of branch lines and stations. Known as the Beeching Report, these cuts disproportionately impacted the industrial North, disrupting communities reliant on traditional industries. The economic and social consequences were profound, as businesses struggled without vital rail links, and communities faced isolation due to reduced travel options.
Coinciding with a broader economic shift towards a service-oriented economy in the South, the Beeching cuts deepened the North-South divide. The concentration of economic power in the South exacerbated regional inequality as the North grappled with reduced connectivity.
Fast forward to the High-Speed 2 (HS2) project emerging as a potential remedy. Touted as critical infrastructure to enhance capacity, connectivity, and journey times, HS2 promises benefits, particularly for the North. However, the historical pattern persists, with the North seemingly bearing the brunt of past decisions.
In summary, Beeching’s rail cuts and HS2 have intertwined in their impact on regional inequality. The legacy of transportation infrastructure decisions continues to deepen the North-South divide, raising questions about the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities in the UK.
When will this London Southern bias end? The regional political parties such as the Yorkshire Party, North East Party, and Mebyon Kernow have a solution if the electorate lets them in.
Yours faithfully,
John Hall
Just another ‘world class’ system
28 January 2024
Dear editor,
“Under the new controls, which come into effect on 31 January, any lorries or cargo containers entering Britain with merchandise subject to restrictions such as food health requirements will have to be pre-notified online to the UK authorities with documentation identifying any controlled products”, was written in the I on 27 January. So far these checks have been delayed five times – and there is still a slight chance that they will be delayed again.
A new customs system called ‘Border Target Operating Model’ (BTOM)will be used for these checks, and according to the government this will give the UK the “most advanced border in the world”.
How often, since the Brexit propaganda started, have we heard that the UK ‘will be the world leader in …’ or ‘will have the world-leading system in …’ or ‘will have the chance to become the best in the world for …’ or similar?
But how often, since then, have we heard that the UK actually ‘is the world leader in …’ or ‘has the world-leading system in …’ or ‘is the best in the world for …’? I can’t remember many. And when it was said, it was usually a delusion.
The Horizon system for the post office, the ‘world beating’ track and trace system during the Covid period and the settled status system for EU citizens are just three examples which did not only have flaws, but which went seriously wrong. And there are many more systems in operation which struggle to meet their purposes and objectives.
All IT systems have more or less serious flaws. And all systems will need more or less time to become stable and reliable. The simple reason for this is that not everything can be predicted. Therefore, it is very unlikely that a complex new system will go live without any problems. And when systems go live without any backup solution it is simply a recipe for disaster.
Politicians should be very careful with expressions like ‘world best’ or ‘world leader’. In most cases it is simply not true and, in most cases, it is only wishful thinking. It only shows the ignorance and incompetence of the speaker.
Let’s see how good the BTOM system really is before attributing any superlatives to it.
Yours faithfully,
Helmuth Porschen
Our healthcare workers need recognition now more than ever
11 January 2024
Dear editor,
As of April 2023, there were approximately 1.27 million full-time healthcare workers in the UK, a demonstration of the number of people who have devoted their time to addressing our healthcare needs. The number of healthcare workers taking care of the UK’s ageing population is also high considering that there are approximately 11 million people that are 65 years and above, translating to 19% of the UK’s total population.
The high number of the UK’s ageing population compared to the total number of healthcare workers demonstrates that more healthcare workers may be required. Despite the imbalance in numbers, our healthcare workers still go the extra mile to ensure that our health needs are met; specifically, our ageing population’s needs. These healthcare workers are often driven by passion, commitment, friendliness and dedication. These qualities were demonstrated during the first years of the Covid-19 outbreak, when they had to go the extra mile to ensure that they treated millions of people across the UK.
I feel that the dedication of our healthcare workers needs to be recognised, considering that they are currently focusing on meeting the needs of the UK’s increasing ageing population, right after a challenging Covid-19 outbreak. I have worked as a health worker at Hales Group and based on my experience, I can state that it is a challenging task and one has to create a genuine connection with their clients. A sense of humour goes a long way in this profession.
Healthcare workers deal with various challenges, including stressful schedules and safety and security risks, among others. They are expected to carry out their duties while ensuring there is no margin of error, something which can always be stressful. We need to be their sources of joy and recognition goes a long way for these healthcare workers. Truly, our healthcare workers are our unsung heroes as they have devoted their lives to saving and caring for us, especially our ageing population.
So, please recognise our healthcare workers at any slight chance you get as this will go a long way in motivating them!
Yours sincerely,
Ravneet Kaur
Leeds
New £3.3bn pledge to DUP: money for nothing?
08 January 2024
Dear editor,
The government of Rwanda will be laughing all the way to the bank. The injection of millions of pounds from the UK into Rwanda’s economy must be of immense benefit to the country even if, finally, they must play host to a handful of asylum seekers.
Closer to home, in Northern Ireland, the DUP is enjoying similar jocularity. In 2017, Theresa May’s government paid the DUP more than £1bn to buy their support. Just before Christmas, the DUP was offered a £3.3bn package in an attempt to persuade them to reconvene Stormont. How often can the DUP hold democracy in Northern Ireland to ransom?
There is a long history here. In 1979, James Callaghan, trying to shore up his minority government, was urged to do a deal with the DUP by financing a gas pipeline between Northern Ireland and Britain in an attempt to guarantee their votes. He refused, saying his government was not up for auction.
Now, that was an honourable decision sorely lacking in today’s politics.
Yours sincerely,
Justin Enthoven
Pateley Bridge
Become an RNID volunteer for 2024
04 January 2024
Dear editor,
Have you made your new year resolutions yet? Need one more? Why don’t you sign up as an RNID volunteer?
RNID, the charity supporting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus are looking for volunteers to support our vital work across the UK.
Last year, our volunteers gave more than 9,000 hours of their time to support people in their communities with practical information and essential hearing aid care. But with one in five adults in the UK being deaf or having hearing loss or tinnitus, there is much more to do to make sure everyone in the UK gets support.
Volunteering for RNID could involve providing information to local organisations and community groups, helping people get the most out of their hearing aids, or giving a friendly welcome to everyone who passes through the door at one of our support sessions.
Many of our volunteers have hearing loss themselves or in their family, and volunteering with us is a great way to meet new people, gain new skills and experience, and help people in your community.
What are you waiting for? For more information, visit rnid.org.uk/join or contact us on 0808 808 0123.
Yours sincerely,
Jackie White,
Director at RNID
