Here are the letters for June 17, 2019

Electric car use will lead to site closures

Re: the closure of the Ford and Honda plants, this is something we are going to have to get used to in the change over to electric vehicles.

The cost of moving away from the internal combustion engine will run into many billions of dollars worldwide.

Already the major manufacturers are going to collaborate in developing the new technologies that will be required.

Even with this, electric vehicles will cost more to develop and manufacture and, as Ford has stated, production will move mainly to the Far East, Central and South America.

As we are quite well established in electric car production in this country, we may retain some production here but, as far fewer people will be needed to both produce and service these vehicles, the number employed in the industry will, in 30 years time, be a small fraction of what it is now.

Edward White

via email

SOCIETY

‘Joke’ was irresponsible

I have seen the irresponsible ‘joke’ by Jo Brand (about throwing acid) in the news.

Is this woman not aware that there are lots of people in this country who would consider this a good idea?

She should be prosecuted and not just warned.

Derek Proctor

Knott End

POLITICS

Brexit’s similar to Trojan horse

I’m coming to the conclusion that the EU referendum has similarities to the story of the Trojan Horse. According to Greek mythology, the city of Troy was tricked into bringing through its gates a huge wooden horse. The Trojans thought this was a tribute left by the Greek army, that had unsuccessfully besieged the city. Once allowed inside, the enemy soldiers emerged from the body of the horse and took over the city while the people were sleeping.

My recollection is that there was a campaign to leave the EU that was all about saving billions in membership, getting a free trade deal with the EU at no cost, stopping immigration and getting back control over our laws. Many thought the money saved would go to strengthen public services like the NHS.

Articulate proponents of Brexit struck a chord with people by telling us we were being ruled by Brussels who milked our hard-earned cash. When asked searching questions, they accused the doubters of trying to spread ‘project fear’.

Things haven’t proved to be as easy as we were led to believe. It is a complicated business trying to manage a huge transition of a country when trade, jobs, security, supplies of medicines and public services are all part of the enormous UK jigsaw.

With one Prime Minister biting the dust, we now have the new contenders telling us what their plans will be. Now that a majority have voted to leave, the key campaign players seem to have lost recollection of the promises they made in 2016.

They have argued that the vote was to leave and that has to be delivered, regardless of how far removed Brexit has become from the original claims. It would be undemocratic to do otherwise.

However, it seems all the contenders are putting forward a new Brexit agenda. Remember how they said the EU membership payments were to be returned back to our control and we MAY use it to invest in the NHS?

The plans of the leading contenders seem to be ignoring their original script.

Take, for example, Boris Johnson. His plan now is to spend more on tax cuts to the top 10 per cent than we will save in EU membership payments. So where is the extra funding to the NHS coming from? I fear the answer is nowhere. After all, they just said they MAY do it.

For the likes of Boris Johnson and his Brexiteer colleagues, they won’t be too bothered if those who voted leave now feel betrayed. The electorate have let the Trojan horse through the gates.

Boris is the front runner and he now only has to convince enough of his fellow MPs and a majority of the 120,000 Conservative party members that he is the man for the job. A much narrower take on democracy than we usually expect! So the EU referendum now promises to being something very different than we first thought. Just like the Trojan Horse it looked wonderful at first glance but it contained a nasty surprise that people weren’t expecting,

Edie Phillipson

Ashton