Readers' letters - June 7

I was heartbroken about the terror attack in Manchester.

To witness via TV the atrocity, the death and wounding of such young people, mostly beautiful young girls, was truly heart-wrenching.

I was not previously aware of the adoration of Ariana Grande’s fans and the more I watched and read the news, the more I was bemused.

Then the concert in Manchester was arranged and I decided to watch it to see just what the fans saw in Ariana.

Well, I was moved to tears at more than one point in the concert.

What a remarkable young lady, beautiful inside and out.

I presumed, wrongly, she would sing a few hits and that would be it.

I was very wrong, she was full of empathy and love and produced a truly wonderful evening for all.

What a lesson in strength and love and respect and caring.

I was so impressed and now see just what the young fans see in her.

The whole evening was truly inspiring and she renewed the love and hope of all her young fans at a time when they needed just that.

Christine Abram

Cottam

politics

In Whom we Trust- the myth

We should scrutinise what is being proposed in the Tory Party Manifesto – all of it uncosted. Tory MPs tell us that their plans do not need to be costed because the people trust them with the economy.

If we consider the balance sheets since 1945, it is the Labour Party where fiscal responsibility has been exercised, with surplus budgets in evidence by 1948 after the war years; again between 1964 and 1970 under Harold Wilson; and from 1998 to 2002 during the Blair years.

The Blair Government had inherited a significant deficit from John Major’s years in power. Labour cleared it. There was a deficit throughout Margaret Thatcher’s stewardship.

The modest deficit that appeared under Labour during 2002 and 2005 was being reduced until 2008 – the time of the world recession when the world suffered at the hands of Wall Street greed.

Although this deficit was reduced under the Tories, it is a miniscule reduction and increased in 2012.

Had the Government not made so many people unemployed and continued privatising assets, thus squeezing public income, this deficit could have been heading toward surplus.

The proposals in the Tory Party Manifesto will continue, unnecessary cuts to public services and setting one section of society against another – currently it is the young against the old.

Those of the “baby boom” generation have worked all of their lives. Over recent years, they have seen their savings dissipated; they are threatened with the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance; there is a stealth/inheritance/death tax to look forward to should they fall seriously ill and they will see the triple lock on their state pension withdrawn.

We are asked by this Government not to question these matters but to trust.

Over the past weeks, we have seen cyberattacks on the NHS and acts of barbarism. The Army has been deployed to support the police whose budgets have been savaged since 2010. Such cuts have had a deleterious effect. It is noticeable that praise is heaped on those who work tirelessly to save lives in times of crisis by the very people who are prepared to act as Madame Guillotine when it suits their ideology.

Strong? With the economic record so far, what is evident is weakness.

Stable? Since the current Prime Minister came to office, we have seen U-turn after U-turn. Had other parties behaved in this way, they would have been mocked. But, we are asked not to mock or criticise but to trust.

B Kelly

via email

politics

The last cuts were the deepest

The insinuations by her opponents that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, was somehow responsible for the lives lost in the recent terrorist attacks is disgraceful.

It shows just how low those who want us to remain in the EU are prepared to sink to achieve their political goals .

Let us remember the note left, after the 2010 election, by the outgoing Labour MP Liam Byrne to the incoming Tory Minister: “ There’s no money left”. Britain was nearly bankrupt.

Cuts HAD to be made in all departments.

Possibly as a result of some of those cuts, lives were lost.

The reason for those cuts was entirely due to Labour’s mismanagement of the economy.

Perhaps we should bear that in mind before we vote tomorrow.

Harvey Carter

Newton

politics

I prefer: ‘Long Live

Freedom of Choice’

Thank you P Ward of Leyland (Avoid Alliance of leftist parties, LP Letters, June 5) for your obvious concern over the way the Great British voter may lead the nation on June 8.

However, you have had your say and, like Nigel Farage and UKIP, you have had your day. I think on the whole, the common man and woman in the street can be trusted to vote with their conscience, rather than with someone else’s ideology.

It is all very well proclaiming “Long Live Free Britain”.

For my part I much prefer “Long Live Freedom Of Choice”.

Martin Sutcliffe

Grimsargh

politics

‘Magic money tree’ funding party

Tory politicians are constantly claiming that Labour’s policy pledges are funded by a magic money tree.

This, despite their funded programme, in contrast to the Tories’ plan, which is “trust us, we will tell you after the election”.

The only magic money tree I know of is the one that funded the Tory Party to the tune of £5.46m in the first quarter of this year.

Would this money be from companies the Tories claim would leave this country if Labour’s tax plans affected them? They could join those other well-known companies that are keen to maximise their profits in this country, but not so keen to pay the level of taxes the rest of us have no choice in paying.

Denis Lee

Ashton