Ukip support is allied to growth

Describing Nigel Farage’s party as being “profoundly un-British in every way” and at odds with a country that is striving to help Ebola victims for example, Sir John attributes Ukip’s surge in support to wider public dissatisfaction with the economy.

“I think many of the people who are voting for them re doing so out of frustration at the ongoing difficulties of the recession, they belief that they are losing out and falling behind. That will fade away as the economy improves, and it is materially improving,” observed Sir John with the type of clarity that is now proving so elusive to his successors.

He is right to highlight this frustration – and many will rue the fact that he could not exert greater influence when the Conservative Party was tearing itself apart over Europe in the 1990s. However, while there is a certain logic to the cost of living argument, the issue of trust cannot be overlooked. For, while Sir John could not have been more sincere last Thursday when he proposed a moratorium on EU migrants to Britain in order to lessen the likelihood of this country walking away from the European Union without giving proper and rationale thought to the economic consequences, those sympathetic to Ukip will simply dismiss the comments as the views of a senior statesman who has little influence.

As such, reconciling the issue of trust – and the ability of Mr Cameron to influence Brussels – will be just as important as economic growth if the Tories are to neuter Ukip’s “four-ale bar” appeal.

Rules of the road: Putting the brakes on speeding

TWO related questions emerge from charity Brake’s report ahead of Road Safety Week – why are there so many speeding motorists on the road and what more can be done to enforce the law?

The fact that nearly 80,000 drivers from Yorkshire received fixed penalty notices last year, at a rate of one every seven minutes, suggests that there is still a ‘hard core’ of drivers who are prepared to chance their luck because they believe that there is little likelihood of them being caught. They are also individuals who are frustrated at the extent to which motorists have been used as a ‘cash cow’ to prop up the public finances.

However this viewpoint has scant regard for those grief-stricken families who are mourning loved ones who have died as a result of reckless driving. Understandably, they equate their loss to a life sentence. Speed limits exist to protect the safety of all road users and it is paramount that these laws continue are upheld – it took decades for drink driving to become socially unacceptable and the same mindset needs to apply to speeding or those motorists who persist with using a hand-held mobile phone while behind the wheel.

That said, it would, perhaps, be prudent of Ministers to consider whether there need to be more road signs to remind drivers of their obligations.

However, in enforcing motoring laws, a clearer distinction should be made between serial speeders and those drivers whose indiscretion is very minor and can be attributed to a rare lapse of concentration. If repeat offenders received heavier fines, or longer bans, they might think twice before they put their foot down on the accelerator.

Embracing change: Historic vote on women bishops

CHANGING attitudes towards women bishops are epitomised by the experience of the Very Reverend Vivienne Faull, who is the widely respected Dean of York Minster. When she was first ordained as a priest, she noted: “The local population took the view that if a woman led the funeral service, how would you know that you were properly dead?”

Now the charismatic 59-year-old is tipped to become of one of Britain’s first female bishop if the Church of England votes today to shatter its “stained glass ceiling” on this issue.

It is imperative that it does so. Two decades of procrastination led many to conclude that the Church was out of touch with society. With a vacancy for the Bishop of Hull, an opportunity already exists for Yorkshire to embrace one of the country’s first female bishops. For, in time, many will reflect on this turmoil and ask why it took for the Church to embrace change? After all, its Supreme Governor is none other than the Queen.