April 13: Election letters and why the road to stability has a big whole in it

AS David Cameron and George Osborne bombard the electorate with statistics predicting an upturn in the national economy, a prediction which is also supported by a letter from the heads of UK businesses, it would appear rather mean to remind Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne that on the road which leads to our economic stability, there appears to be a rather large hole.

This is the EU referendum which Mr Cameron promised the electorate to keep at bay his vocal right wing back benchers. The outcome of the EU referendum is unpredictable and a decision to leave the EU could have a negative effect on the much publicised national economic recovery, an important foundation of any future Conservative government.

Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne must surely have a lot of statistical evidence as to the possible effect leaving the EU would have on our economy and using this data have put together a cunning plan to lead us to the economic promised land. If he admits leaving the EU could damage the national economy, then this could make Labour’s decision to refuse an EU referendum sensible and would portray the Conservatives as irresponsible and gambling with our economic future.

So we now have a £100bn hole in the national economic bucket and a hole of uncertain proportions on the road to national economic recovery. This road to recovery could also prove a very slippery surface for Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne to negotiate due to the presence of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

From: Trev Bromby, Sculcoates Lane, Hull.

WHAT an own goal the unholy collaboration of David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband scored when they conspired to get a ‘no’ vote against Alex Salmond in Scotland.

Not only did they not get rid of him, they got the anti-bonus of Nicola Sturgeon who is already infiltrating the English Government.

From: Nigel Boddy, Solicitor, Fife Road, Darlington.

Since we scrapped Polaris and replaced it with Trident, our so-called independent nuclear weapon system has relied on American guidance satellites to work hasn’t it? We have not had an independent nuclear deterrent therefore since before the Falklands War have we? We can only push the nuclear buttons if the White House says yes. Isn’t that so? If we want to keep nuclear weapons as a country, couldn’t we just go back to using bombers? It would be cheaper and we wouldn’t have to ask for the Americans permission to use them.

From: Allan Ramsay, Radcliffe Moor Road, Radcliffe, Manchester.

SHOULD we abolish ‘non-dom’ tax? For the answer, look to the past!

The ‘non-domicile’ regime (The Yorkshire Post, April 9) was introduced in 1799 to shelter those with foreign property from the UK’s newfangled (Napoleonic) wartime taxes. Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America. But when the American War of Independence ended in 1783, they were transported to Australia. Many convicts of the period were women and children who had done nothing more than steal a ‘crumb’ of bread.

Today, millions face starvation.

What must a woman do to stay alive today? Aren’t shoplifting, drugs and the sex trade, problems that Britain, indeed the world, is at a loss to control?

The world – ‘thanks’ to technology – is now one: while Britain, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Sudan have oil, the conflict and the pollution it creates affects the world, its climate and its water. If humankind is to beat poverty, extremism, crime, corruption and climate change, the likes of ‘non-dom tax’ must be outlawed. While one man has to walk to work (perhaps barefoot) for a pittance, we can’t have another (hi-octane) speeding it around the world making corrupt fortunes. The bottom line should be ‘Britain can’t build a fair economy from crime and corruption and won’t tolerate or trade with nations who don’t embrace the same’.

From: Ms Deb Fogarty-Walker, Wood Lane, Leeds.

MORE action is urgently needed to overcome breast cancer. I have a personal interest in tackling this disease and I think my future MP needs to make it a priority because its numbers are rising. More early screening will catch it in early stages and potentially save NHS money long term. I have just had a scare and have been given the all clear, but some are not as lucky as me.

Every year, around 18 women in my constituency alone die from secondary breast cancer – 12,000 women die from this disease across the UK annually.

I want my future MP to become a Breast Cancer Ambassador and help to improve local treatments and services for those affected by the disease in our local area – and do more to stop women dying from this disease.

From: Robert Heys, Bar Lane, Sowerby Bridge.

I NOTE that 80 per cent of respondents to your recent poll (The Yorkshire Post, April 8) believe that immigration is not, on balance, good for the UK economy.

I suspect a similar majority in the often impoverished countries of origin of such of the skilled citizens, share that belief in respect of emigration from their homelands to the UK.

It appears their governments, like ours, often pay little regard to the views of those they represent.