Readers' letters - December 22

BREXIT. Trust our politicians to make a right mess of it!

Let’s look at the facts.

FACT. The Government led by Ted Heath signed the Treaty of Rome, better known as The Common Market.

We, the electorate, were assured that this was a trade agreement and not political.

FACT. The above was later changed to the EEC i.e. European Economic Community.

We had a referendum asking did we want to remain or leave this new arrangement?

The UK voted to remain.

Over the years, the wedge was driven in further and the EEC became the European Union.

FACT.

We have gone from the Common Market, a trade agreement, to politics and a European Parliament that takes precedence over our own democratically elected Parliament.

This amounts to us surrendering our sovereignty.

FACT.

Not one of our governments have stated in their manifesto that they would surrender our sovereignty if elected.

This poses the question, has any UK government had the consent of the UK electorate to join the EU under these stringent terms?

To surrender our SOVEREIGNTY, Parliament would need to have a debate. This has never been debated in our Parliament, therefore our membership in the EU must be void!

No need to trigger Article 50 to get out of the EU when we were never legally in it! I would think our constitution would confirm this.

B Robinson

via email

traffic

Fishergate – it has bus stops

While noting J Rotheram’s contribution (Letters, December 15) to the ongoing Fishergate debate, some of his/her contribution is in fact inaccurate.

I note J Rotheram lives in Penwortham. I must thus conclude that J.R. has never been on, for example, a 2, 2A, 3 or 12 bus from the bus station, all of which serve the Penwortham area.

Had he/she done so, then he/she would have noted that, with the exception of the #12 service, all of these bus services stop at the bus stop next to Waterstones which is on Fishergate and just past Miller Arcade.

He/she may then have observed such a bus having to negotiate round any of a number of services at the bus stop next to Boots, also on Fishergate. Perhaps also J.R. would like to enlighten us as to how the #12 service, which has, as both its terminus and starting point, the stop on Lune Street, fits in with his ‘solution’ to the problem? Just which route is this supposed to take?

Not only that, but where does J.R. suggest putting any bus stops to serve these bus services on Lancaster Road to the north of the City Hall?

Had J.R. done research, he/she would have found there is very little room left to fit at least two more bus stops on that part of Lancaster Road. Or is he/she suggesting the only two places for bus passengers to board these buses in the centre of Preston is either at the bus station or on the railway bridge section of Fishergate Hill? That could be quite a hike.

May I offer my two pennies worth? I was travelling along Strand Road in a southerly direction approaching the junction with Fishergate Hill, et al, and noticed that a car was indicating left as if to turn up Fishergate Hill from Strand Road and thus into the bus lane.

The thing that prevented the driver from so doing was the No Entry sign. And it worked as the driver took an alternative route, yet someone at County Hall has deemed this to be the ‘wrong’ sign to use on Fishergate immediately after Mount Street and has thus put up signage which has confused many drivers and does so even now.

I realise that the No Entry sign would have to be qualified by adding the limitations on the use of that part of Fishergate, along with the alternative route for non-permitted vehicles, but I reckon it is far more noticeable to those affected by this change than the present system unless, of course, one cannot see it because one is stuck behind a bus!

I agree that, in some cases, familiarity has bred contempt or, rather, inattention and thus the drivers have simply not noticed the signs. For others though, the only true way in which these drivers could read and act upon the instructions displayed would be to stop, read, inwardly compute and then act on said instructions. This would mean every vehicle driver, save those permitted into this part of Fishergate, would thus hold up the traffic a little and thus add – over a short space of time – to congestion, something the signs are trying to reduce.

One thing is clear and that is the fact drivers continue to go down this banned route shows the signage to be inadequate.

It’s almost like putting up a sign at junction 31A of the M6 saying ‘Vehicles may not enter the M6 Northbound from this Junction’ and ‘Vehicles may not leave the M6 Southbound at this Junction’. Yes, in other words, it’s bewildering! So why make a sign so bewildering to drivers on Fishergate?

Neil Swindlehurst

A Regular User of the Buses Down Fishergate

brexit

We’ll stay if you’ll change

When your wife is standing on the doorstep suitcase in hand saying she is leaving you, what is the first thing you promise? You promise to change of course, and be a better husband.

Can European leaders take the hint please?

The Lib Dems, with help from the Greens, pulled off a wonderful piece of magic in Richmond Park.

Isn’t it time for European leaders to confess that the institutions of the EU do in fact need reform?

Some early calls for reform and some admissions of their past mistakes from the European side, may be all that is needed right now to turn this decision around and get the British people to call off Brexit, as Boris Johnson himself once predicted.

We are weary of waiting on the doorstep. It takes two to tango. The European Parliament moves to Strasbourg one week in every four. How about calling off that move to Strasbourg for a start? The voters of Richmond Park made the first steps. A clear demonstration of a willingness to reform the institutions of the EU is needed now.

Nigel Boddy

Address supplied

energy

Fracking from a bygone era

Fracking is not needed, more importantly not wanted by the vast majority.

The industry is already from a bygone era. Time to move on and focus on future clean energy programmes. We have already reached the pivot point for renewables. The so-called “bridge” has been built. In many cases, it is already cheaper, cleaner, safer with greater job opportunities for the long term.

Frank Colenso

via email