Letters - October 11, 2016

We keep hearing from politicians that the referendum was reckless and that the electorate should never have been given a chance to say how they want their country to be governed.

These same people, who are mainly elected with less than half the possible constituency vote, are very quick to deny the wishes of seventeen and a half million voters nationwide.

I can fully understand how they may be infuriated by the removal of the EU gravy train from their menu. After all, becoming a MEP is a great way to make lots of money for doing very little.

I also realise that much of the Lib Dems’ undemocratic rhetoric is simply a cynical attempt to cause division and to attract any disgruntled ‘remain camp’ voters.

Sadly for them, Jeremy Corbyn is also advocating unlimited immigration, so good luck with that.

I, myself, was a fervent Labour supporter until the arrival of Tony Blair and his cronies, many of who are now residing, comfortably, in the House of Lords, and I would certainly have supported Jeremy Corbyn if his views on the EU were not so detrimental to the interests of the country’s lowest paid workers, not only in their job prospects and wages, but in their communities and services.

Who do these people say they represent?

One Momentum spokesperson on television was asked why Jeremy doesn’t sing the National anthem. Her astonishing reply was that she doesn’t sing it either but does sing the anthem of Ghana, the country she came from. It’s good to see that someone in the Labour party puts their country first.

I find it ironic that the Tory party which I, as a council house kid, was brought up to despise, is now the only major party to respect the real hopes and fears of ordinary people.

Incredibly, Theresa May seems to be prepared to address the many problems that have been, for so many years, ignored by the detached, self-serving, we- know-best elite of all the major parties.

The mudslingers are already throwing their usual, ‘politically correct’ barbs at the PM, because she has the audacity to accept, and implement, the will of the people.

Name calling, in place of reasoned debate, has been adopted for far too long and is now clearly seen for the divisive, bullying tactic that it is.

So, for the sake of true democracy, and to save what’s left of their diminishing credibility, I hope that all politicians will gracefully accept the referendum result, put aside their petty squabbling, and do what they have been given a mandate to do – put all their efforts into building a fairer, and proudly independent, Great Britain.

Don’t let NHS be destroyed

Nurses’ leaders may be correct that the NHS can’t cope without staff from abroad.

Non-EU citizens are working here on legal work permits, so why should that change for qualified staff.

EU citizens with the same qualifications would only require to obtain work permits if the negotiations with the EU decided this would be the case and Iam pretty sure all EU citizens that are already here would be allowed to remain no matter what and quite rightly so.

It could be said all the extra NHS staff they have had to employ is because of the six million migrants who have entered the UK in the last five years .

I would suggest it is the government funding that is the problem, given all the extra taxes they are getting from the migrants.

It is also well known that a lot of the extra funding the Government is putting in will go on funding higher fees to medical consultants and the private sector health agencies and will also drive patients into the private sector by the quietly managed failures instigated by the Government as a way of downgrading then destroying our dependence on our beloved NHS

Please don’t let this happen.

Sheffield

Silence over HS2 station

There appears to be silence from all those in Sheffield who campaigned against the HS2 station being built at Meadowhall.

Perhaps they are reflecting on the fact that a new station will not be built on their option, the site of the former Victoria station, but instead HS2 trains will use the existing Midland station which may receive a slight upgrade.

There will be no high speed trains running within 20 miles of Sheffield, which will be on a spur off the main line served by a maximum of two trains per hour to/from London Euston and no guarantee of any high speed trains towards Leeds.

Re-routing of the line east of Meadowhall will result in the destruction of many houses and ruination of several villages and communities, infuriating the rest of South Yorkshire who blame the leaders of Sheffield totally for this fiasco.

I await a comment when the implications of the move away from Meadowhall have been fully analysed.

J P Sanderson

by email

Don’t pick on Yorkshireman

What a fiasco ! Two grown- up UKIP MEPs giving each other a good handbagging.

Word has it that ‘would- be’ UKIP leader, 49-year-old Steven Woolfe, picked a fight with the wrong man in 6-year-old portly grandfather Mike Hookem and finished up in hospital.

The moral of this story is “never pick a fight with a Yorkshireman, especially an ex-Commando Yorkshireman of working-class stock”.

Terry Palmer

South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley S74

Spanish eyes at campus

I was intrigued to read the exotic-sounding names of three of the buildings in the Sheffield Digital Campus in your article on October 8, namely “Ventana House”, Acero”, and “Vidrio”.

Then I realised they were the Spanish words for “window”, steel”, and “glass” respectively. Quite appropriate, you could say, relating to glass and steel constructions with plenty of windows.

I wonder who in the Scarborough group knows enough Spanish to come up with these names?

BW Jervis.

S11

Well said on pubs, Jayne

I have to agree with Jayne Grayson’s comments regarding pub closures .

It’s common sense, if a business is not making money it will close .

I am lucky , I live in an area with plenty of vibrant pubs , unlike most of my family who live in an area without any pubs . There used to be many pubs around Shiregreen and Sheffield Lane Top. Now there is nothing .

I know this is a well-used cliche , but , “use ’em or lose ’em.”

Well said Jayne Grayson.

Liam Touhey

Ecclesall

Bus is now unreliable

Last month First Bus Group made a big fuss about their new X1 and its new route which has replaced the 69.

What they failed to mention is that buses have been taken off the X78 route so that service now runs every 15 minutes instead of every 10 minutes.

That’s what the timetable says, but anyone waiting for an X78 between 7 and 9 o’clock in the morning knows that isn’t the case.

In the past few weeks the X78 has frequently been late and a few times the 7.30 bus has not turned up at all.

As this is the only service that runs along Brightside Lane, perhaps someone from First Bus Group would like to comment on why the X78 service has been allowed to change from a previously excellent service to unreliable in a matter of weeks.

Dean Hopcroft

Richmond Park Grove, Sheffield S13

Concessions to win vote

Now that everyone has experienced the minor economic and political upheaval caused by Brexit, perhaps it is time for a second referendum.

Remainers could win my vote this time were they only prepared to offer minor concessions like blue passports, the right to sell petrol by the gallon and a return to weather forecasts in comprehensible units.

As far as immigration is concerned, I doubt many Brexiteers would object to daily planeloads of cheap foreign labour as long as they could be paid in £SD!

John Eoin Douglas

by email

Never done hard work

I’m glad SC (letters, Oct 6) wrote in regarding Terry Palmer’s letter ‘Thatcher burns in hell’.

She does, but is this the same SC who once wrote in claiming public sector work is hard work?

If so, I’m glad it kept you fit and active being a hard- working public sector worker, being paid by the workers mostly on low pay and your guaranteed gold-plated pension paid for by the workers.

Sack public sector workers and they are not missed. The government is saving money.

Sack a miner, or other non-public sector worker and the country suffers in less revenue.

Anyone who says work is hard you can guarantee they’ve never done a day’s hard work, especially in the public sector.

G Ellison