YP Letters: Yorkshire environment will suffer from no-deal Brexit '“ here's why

From: Beatrice Greenfield, Sheffield Friends of the Earth; Chayley Collis, Huddersfield Friends of the Earth; Craig Bennett, Chief Executive, Friends of the Earth.
Brexit continues to divide public and political opinion.Brexit continues to divide public and political opinion.
Brexit continues to divide public and political opinion.

THERESA May’s deal is in the dustbin and the threat of a no-deal Brexit is looming – this would be catastrophic for our environment.

The world is warming. Climate chaos is already impacting people and wildlife in the UK. Our birds, animals and nature are in rapid decline. And the UK would probably still be the ‘dirty man of Europe’, if it wasn’t for EU laws which improved our air quality, protected nature and prevented companies flushing raw sewage into our seas.

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A no-deal Brexit will leave the UK without the environmental rules we need, and nobody to enforce the ones we do have.

Without adequate environmental protections and a strong watchdog to enforce them, wildlife in the Pennine Moors would be at an increased risk. It’s only thanks to EU laws that short-eared owls, Eurasian curlews and other wildlife have thrived, protected from polluters. Progress on the air pollution problem in Leeds could also stall.

Not only that, but political desire to get the economy moving will likely lead to pressure to lower standards to secure quick trade deals. However they campaigned on Brexit, Yorkshire’s MPs must urge the Prime Minister to take no-deal off the table. Our health and environment depend on it.

From: Cecil Crinnion, Slingsby.

IN order to enrich themselves and gain power, bullies and criminals form gangs. They target successful businesses and charge them a fee to protect them, at the same time seeking to expand their enterprises, forcing other businesses to pay the fee or face unfair treatment, threats etc.

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This fee is generally known as protection money. In order to maintain power, gang members are well treated and given perks denied to the rest of the community. However, when a business realises it is successful, and doesn’t need protection or unfair advantages over its competitors, it decides to leave.

Obviously the gang does everything in its power to disrupt and discredit the wayward business. The reasons are obvious – loss of money but mainly to discourage others from leaving. In order to stop the gang getting totally out of control, businesses have to be brave enough to make a stand.

Any similarity between this letter and leaving the European Union is purely coincidental.

From: Dave Ellis, Hedon.

IF our 650 MPs fail to meet the wishes of 17.4 million citizens on March 29, 2019, we should instruct Theresa May to not pay them at least one month’s salary, which should be given to adult social care, either by Age Concern or directly to their constituency and ring-fenced for the benefit of over 75s.

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Is this enough or should we instruct to not pay them three months salary as they have collectively put “barriers” in the way, with the help of 800 members of the House of Lords, to put off making the decision?

We need the likes of former Asda boss Archie Norman and Lord Alan Sugar around the negotiation table. They would have made more progress than our elected members. Do you agree?

From: Paul Emsley, Hellifeld.

UNTIL Parliament cleanses itself of all its personal egos/agendas/vendettas/EU jollies and puts the people of this country first, we will not get proper debate, discussion and agreement on how to achieve this wish of the United Kingdom.

If MPs failed to advise their constituents of the consequences for voting Yes or No in 2016, they are the first people who should tender their resignations – or worse. Oliver Cromwell had the right idea in 1648.

I’m not holding my breath.

From: Kenneth A Gledhill, Harrogate.

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SIR Vince Cable’s speech (The Yorkshire Post, January 11) points out the drawbacks of relying on a no-deal exit using WTO rules. Maybe WTO is a just fall-back retort made by the likes of the Rees-Mogg group and others?

WTO does appear an increasingly unreliable option, yet your later article (January 15) by brewer Tim Dewey still seems to endorse WTO as acceptable.

From: Glyn Gibson, Woodlands, Doncaster.

CANON Michael Storey (The Yorkshire Post, January 16) is manipulating figures to justify his claim re the referendum result. No one knows how the vote would have gone if everyone had voted.

We were hoodwinked into joining the Common Market and had to destroy countless orchards to be allowed in. The fact that corruption is rife, and auditors cannot certify the figures, is lost on the Remainers.

Re-regulate city services

From: Ms E Stanton, Bawtry Road, Sheffield.

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I HAVE been refused a job interview around an hour away from my home on the grounds that public transport is not realiable enough to get me to work.

Politicians from all sides in Sheffield need to get on with ensuring public transport, and specifically bus services, are re-regulated.

Another service in Sheffield which needs re-regulating urgently is libraries. As it stands the libraries run by volunteers have no funding after 2020.

Politicians are just waiting to blame the eventual closure of library services on the communities running them.

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Libraries look after – and counsel – people from all walks of life and library staff keep a great number of us going when we have nothing else left, or when we are down and out.

Great men such as Andrew Carnegie (who gifted Tinsley Carnegie library to the city) would be spinning in their graves if they knew our council was handing over libraries.

It’s time for action and transparency. It’s time to get Tinsley Carnegie library re-opened and the remainder of Sheffield libraries re-staffed 
and brought back under 
council control.