The only polls that matter are the General Election result and Brexit vote - Yorkshire Post Letters

I find the reporting in The Yorkshire Post, particularly in the last few months, falls far below what a formerly respected newspaper should be striving for. We are constantly subjected to what the various think tanks and ‘You Gov’ polls suggest we should think based on infinitely low numbers of contributors.

The only Polls that matter are the General Election Result and Brexit Poll which were both freely open to all constituents to actively participate. All other polls should be banned as being unrepresentative of the nation at large and reflecting only the views of the hand-picked relatively few members of the public interviewed.

What many people wish to see as priorities are: 1) A secure and reliable source of energy for the UK, from within our home shores, free from the reliance on supplies from Russia and or other areas of conflict. 2) Self-sufficiency in food plus supplies from trustworthy countries. 3) A sensible response from Mayors, local MPs and local authorities on building and supporting the excellent basis we have in the UK for travel within the UK from rail, road and air. 4) As well as developing these facilities we should look to reduce our carbon pollution levels wherever possible.

On 1) we have the vast supplies of oil and gas off our shores which we must develop whilst always looking to reduce carbon levels. We have the Beccs Carbon Capture Scheme at Drax based on biomass and the pelleted products from burning Black Bag Waste at Ferrybridge (reducing greatly the thousands of tons of waste to landfill sites) whilst producing a significant amount of low carbon renewable energy.

On 2) the hard work and dedication of our farmers produces a good supply of nourishing food but we need to support them and ensure that the diminishing supply of good agricultural land is not given over to on-shore wind turbines or solar farms. Wind farms need to be out at sea where wind strengths are more reliable.

On 3) above we have the Mayors of Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool meeting to try and safeguard the London to Manchester section of HS2. Whilst there can be no quarrel of Manchester and Liverpool pressing for London/Manchester connections with the London end restricted to Euston, the Mayors of Leeds and Sheffield should know only too well the East of the Pennines from Edinburgh to London has the ECML run mainly by LNER.

This excellent service via Doncaster/Kings Cross from Edinburgh, Leeds, Wakefield, and Hull + West Yorkshire via Pontefract/ Knottingley or Leeds/Sheffield to St Pancras and Eurostar destinations is capable of providing swift, comfortable journeys to and from London.

All it needs is the electrifying of the Leeds/Sheffield line plus the longer trains planned for ECML plus the spur line promised to Doncaster Airport and the benefits of the rapidly expanding freight traffic there (currently on hold as negotiations with Peel continue) and the chance of developing the Humber Express route for the huge container traffic between the vast container port of Immingham to be dispatched towards Doncaster Airport and industrial South Yorkshire for the dispersal of imports/exports to final destinations.