YP Letters: What would Churchill have made of EU debate?

THE Brexit battleship sails on haphazardly, despite being hit below the waterline by a barrage of facts on the dangers of leaving the EU.

The Norway option for trading with the EU, often quoted by Brexit fair weather mariners, is all but capsized. It has emerged that Norway’s trading arrangements with the EU require it to make financial contributions, adhere to EU laws and accept the free movement of people.

In fact, it is a virtual member of the EU except that it has no influence on how the EU operates. Switzerland and Canada also have trading arrangements with the EU but it has emerged that these provide very limited access to the single European market. Not yet willing to take the plunge overboard, Iain Duncan Smith – reportedly wearing a lifejacket and carrying an emergency whistle – retorts that the UK will make its own arrangements with the EU and that these will “return control”.

After seeing the way Mr Duncan Smith steered the Conservative Party during his tenure as captain of the bridge, are we really sure we want his hands on the tiller?

From: Thomas W Jefferson, Batty Lane, Howden, Goole.

THE former governor of the Bank of England, Lord (Mervyn) King, has made a scathing criticism of the euro, saying it is doomed to failure and will lurch from crisis to crisis unless it is broken up. He says the euro has created a dangerous conflict between a centralised elite and national democracies.

The French Finance Minister has previously said that in order to survive the euro needs political union, to which the German Finance Minister effectively said “not a chance”.

Unemployment in the eurozone is 10 per cent, compared with some five per cent here and in America. That difference equates to eight million people being unnecessarily unemployed in the eurozone.

David Cameron never comments on these matters and seems to regard them as the private grief of the eurozone countries. His failure to acknowledge and to demand EU action on these deep-seated problems identified by Lord King, which have the potential to cause another global financial crisis, lays bare his absurd claim that the EU makes us safer and stronger.

From: Hugh Rogers, Messingham Road, Ashby.

SIR Winston Churchill was once quoted as saying, back in 1954, that it had been the (British) nation which had the “lion heart” which had helped us to win the war. I wonder what he would say about the timorous weaklings, too scared to go about the world without having their hands held by a Brussels bureaucrat, who seemingly now constitute the English nation today?

The forthcoming referendum will enable us to break free and resume the management of our own affairs. Grab it.

Solutions to the housing crisis

From: J K M Krawiec, Station Road, North Thoresby.

YOUR Editorial regarding housing is apt (The Yorkshire Post, March 3), but we need to realise that we should not mix up the wish to own a house and the overall need for housing which is far larger.

The truth is that there is a significant part of the population who will never be able to afford to own property. In the past this need was substantially met by social housing, but the growing emasculation of this sector by this Government has created a crisis which was totally avoidable.

Private landlords are in the property market to make money. There is nothing wrong with that, but where they rent to people on low incomes, they are subsidised by housing benefit (the taxpayer).

The only long term solution is a vast increase in the build of houses at affordable sale and rent prices.

Disclosure was threat to justice

From: Fiona Lemmon, Clifton, Maltby, Rotherham.

ON a recent train journey, it was obvious that the young man behind me knew the young couple sitting on an adjacent seat in the carriage.

He started to tell them that he was due to appear at a Crown Court as a witness to a stabbing. He gave a few details and then launched into his experience with a scene-of-crime police officer. Fortunately, he wasn’t able to say much as we drew up at a station and the couple exited. I turned round to the young man and politely said that I didn’t think he should be talking about the case. He said that he’d been told he could.

In my opinion, the legal system in this country is far from perfect and witnesses talking about crimes only serves to further undermine what little faith I have in justice being done. I appreciate that, for the young man concerned, appearing in court might be a cause for excitement, but I class his disclosure as rank stupidity.

Airport journey not so difficult

From: John Heasman, St Chads’ View, Leeds.

THERE has been much negative comment recently about Leeds Bradford Airport – especially with regard to the transport links. Whilst these are not ideal, I can say that last Wednesday I travelled by road in heavy snow from Leeds University and arrived at the airport in 23 minutes without breaking the speed limits – maybe not quite as bad as some of your correspondents make out.