June 5 Letters: Clegg’s speech shows why we rejected him

having read Nick Clegg’s response to the Queen’s Speech (The Yorkshire Post, May 29) it confirms my view that this man is a total nincompoop, who never learns from his mistakes.

He is so brainwashed by his belief in the German dictatorship of the EU that he cannot see that his views have been almost totally rejected by the British electorate, which is why his party was all but annihilated at the recent election.

Just about everything the so called Lib Dems stand for is not wanted by the British public and in fact does great harm to the country and its people –starting with his beloved EU. This is an excuse to allow the Germans to rule Europe without being seen to directly do so, and it does not matter what David Cameron renegotiates, if Britain is to survive as the free independent country we know and love we must vote to leave the EU.

There is nothing we need from the EU that we cannot have if we leave. Put plainly they will not stop trading with us and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

Mr Clegg then goes on to stand up for the Human Rights Act. This abysmal act has all but destroyed our once great legal system and has allowed the criminal fraternity to stick two fingers up to the law, the British public and their many victims.

It has also allowed foreign judges from countries with very dubious human rights records to overrule our own judges. This despicable act needs to be scrapped in its entirety along with our withdrawal from the ECHR which allows these travesties of justice to be imposed on Britain.

He also tries to defend the Lib Dems’ championing of climate change. Something that under the clueless Ed Davey has left us on the verge of a major energy crisis owing to their stupid belief that you can produce electricity with windmills and then shutting down our reliable coal-fired power stations.

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

we have just had the Queen’s Speech, in which the monarch announced a list of bills that will be dealt with by Parliament.

Like it or not, this is the first time since the Major government of the 1990s in which the measures have come from a majority Conservative administration.

Given their slim overall majority in the Commons, we are in for an interesting year. For it only takes a handful of backbenchers to rebel, and we could see Government measures defeated. So Opposition party MPs will be busy trying to ensure that Cameron doesn’t always get his own way.

However, what takes away the media coverage from this important political event? That’s right, a scandal involving Fifa and the world of international football. A sad state surely of being over-obsessed with sport, and I write as a sports lover!

Licence 
to compel

From: John Springer, Sheffield.

Could you please point out the glaring error in Sonia Beck’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, May 28) – namely that “no one is compelled to buy the licence”?

The whole point of Neil McNicholas’s and others’ objection to the licence fee 
is precisely that nearly 
everybody can be forced to 
buy a licence: fined or jailed for not doing so.

What the objectors do not appear to be either aware of or prepared to acknowledge is that all of us, of whatever age, are forced to pay for 40 minutes of programme content and 20 minutes’ advertising for every programme we switch on other than those on the BBC’s own platforms.

As soon as the licence fee objectors can assure me that BBC equivalent public service can be provided by letting the conglomerates, private equity and hedge funds pay for (but have no control over) programming, I shall support them.

Industrial history lesson

From: Allan Davies, Grimsby.

Professor Philip Booth (The Yorkshire Post, May 27) referred to our economy still experiencing low productivity, and Bernard Ingham on the same day told us that the Victorians built a dominant industrial Britain.

I wonder if Sir Bernard is aware that of the leading nations in 1870, the UK was 15th in the productivity league and that by 1900, Germany and the USA had overtaken Britain both as manufacturing nations and as exporters of industrial goods?

Unless and until we recognise that low productivity has been a standard feature of our economy for a century and a half, we are unlikely to resolve our weaknesses. Blaming last week or last month, or even the 1970s, will not help, nor will short-term palliatives.

Human kindness

From: Douglas Rawson, Harrogate Road, Bradford.

as a pensioner of advanced years I had this morning a very pleasant experience. I was inspecting my water meter. On arising I managed to trip and fall headlong to resemble an inverted tortoise as I flailed around.

Within seconds a Hovis driver from across the road came to my aid and a lady driving in a blue Peugeot stopped and together they helped me stand up.

Such kindness and concern restored my faith in human nature. A big thank you to both.