Letters - September 19, 2018

Politicians targeting us motorists again
petrol, fuel, pump, garagepetrol, fuel, pump, garage
petrol, fuel, pump, garage

Motorists may have to pay more tax to help fund increased NHS spending, and this means that the Chancellor could end the freeze on fuel duty to fund this.

This is a preposterous and immoral suggestion. If the vast revenue from motoring taxation was ploughed back into the transport infrastructure – as it should be – this country would have the finest road system in the world. Once again, the motorist is an easy target for raising revenue to spend elsewhere, like it always has been.

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These remote politicians clearly do not care about the effect on people who, for example, live in rural areas where public transport has been withdrawn and wages are low and the need to run a car just to survive; people who are already paying an outrageous sum of about £60 for 10 gallons of fuel.

It has been shown that a reduction of a tax level can often result in increased revenue, and the Chancellor might find that a reduction of fuel tax would stimulate the economy, and let him find the monies for the NHS by other and more morally honest means.

Peter Horton

Address supplied

BREXIT

We want Canada-plus deal with EU

The PM’s insistence that ‘it’s the Chequers deal or no-deal’ with the European Union is not good enough.

And Michael Gove’s support for the Chequers proposal and his claim that a future PM could alter the relationship between the UK and the EU cuts little ice.

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Everyone is fed up to the back teeth with the lack of progress in these negotiations, which should have been started much earlier and concluded by now.

But that doesn’t mean we are happy to settle for any old solution. Showing perseverance is one thing; but down right obstinacy is another.

Just look where it got Theresa May last time when she called an unnecessary general election. We would be better going for a Canada-plus style arrangement with the EU, which is closer to what was envisaged by the Leave voters.

Paul Nuttall

North West MEP


BREXIT

Fears of European Union leaver

Can anyone please tell me why the Government of a hitherto stable, sensible, democratic country has lost all sense of history, morals, decency and perspective and, in doing so, become so detached from reality?

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Can anyone tell me why a hitherto practical and principled opponents prefer not to engage with crucial issues affecting the livelihood of millions of workers?

There is problem in both major parties – both for the European Research Group of Tory MPs and a Momentum/Corbynite problem. They are malcontents, fantasists, selfish speculators, and fact-free zealots who, after more than two years, have nothing positive to offer either the UK or Northern Ireland.

Instead, we are preparing for the voluntary ditching of huge numbers of trade deals, equality with neighbours which has brought peace, prosperity and trade for nearly 50 years and the prospect of huge disruption without any tangible benefit - other than the factually inaccurate rantings of zealots about “freedom”, “control” and “immigrants”.

You cannot govern without courage. You cannot appease the far right nor the far left. You cannot placate extremists, it’s just seen as weakness. If we are scared to act because of a minority, we’re no longer a democracy.

By the way, I voted Leave.

Name and 
address supplied

EDUCATION

Madcap studies 
at universities

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I would support universities conducting any research on the basis of knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

If they have the funding, good luck to them.

Nonetheless, I thought it was a bit ‘way out’ to read in the same issue of a national daily newspaper about three pretty esoteric pieces of research. A university in the USA has found that people are dying from the stress of trying to adhere to healthy diets.

Meanwhile Queen Mary University of London has discovered that goats can determine human emotions from the expression on our faces.

And Exeter University has concluded that narwhals go through the menopause.

So it’s well done goats and hard luck narwhals.

Neil Inkley

Address supplied