It is alleged that Unite The Union general secretary Len McCluskey threatened to stop funding to the Labour Party unless Liverpool Walton, a renowned safe Labour seat, was given to McCluskey’s sidekick Daniel Carden to contest.

This was totally at odds with local Labour Party members and councillors who quite rightly wanted a local candidate rather than someone not known to the local electorate.

McCluskey has since got his way and Daniel Carden has been parachuted into the constituency for election. Is a trend unfolding from the union barons to parachute their left wing members and activists into the few strong Labour areas left?

I am sure there must have been local candidates quite capable to contest the Labour seat for York Central in the last general election, but Rachael Maskell was parachuted in from Norwich.

Bob Waite, Holgate, York

No positives in constant cutbacks

CLLR Chris Steward’s so-called positive vision (Letters, May 6) would be frankly laughable were it not so serious an issue.

Who will view constant cuts to valued public services as positive? York Conservatives are failing to challenge the sheer scale of cuts being handed to York from Tories in Westminster, while council leader David Carr frequently fails to stand up to the Government as Tory leaders in other parts of the country do.

The idea of an MP like Rachael Maskell working in the interests of York residents, and not simply for her party’s interests, will be difficult for Cllr Steward to fathom. It will be interesting to see whether the same holds true for the Tories’ London-based challenger in York Central, whose involvement in the Cameron Government indicates someone more than willing to accept further cuts to York in the future.

And your correspondent Nick Emmerson (Letters, May 6) refers to Julian Sturdy’s campaign pledge on ring road dualling. I think most would challenge Mr Sturdy’s success in York Outer given his most high profile pledge is consistently falling on deaf ears with his own Government. Seven years on, York remains congested, impacting our economy, yet it’s still not a Government priority.

Cllr Janet Looker (Lab), Clifton Dale, York

Our voting system badly needs reform

Following the Greens’ decision to stand down in York Central I would like to thank people for the many messages of support from both Green and Labour supporters.

We are still standing in York Outer, where the split between Lib Dem and Labour support means you can vote Green without any impact on the re-election of a Tory MP.

Within York Central, Greens are fighting two very winnable council by-elections with the potential to take two seats from Labour, boosting our number of councillors from four to six. This would bring us closer to the situation where all four parties would have to work together more, for the benefit of York rather than party advantage.

Our first-past-the-post system is broken and Labour must take that on board urgently.

Labour’s expulsion by the NEC of three lifelong Surrey members for promoting an electoral pact was shameful and shows the party’s desperation to maintain the two-party system. The pact aimed to give a better chance of electing an independent, medically qualified candidate in place of Tory MP Jeremy Hunt, architect of the ongoing privatisation of our NHS. If Rachael Maskell is re-elected, electoral reform has to be high on her priorities.

Andy D’Agorne, York Green Party, Broadway West, York

Frack firm’s record doesn’t inspire trust

INEOS, the giant chemical and energy firm which is majority owned by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, have expressed an interest in fracking across a large area of Yorkshire, however can we trust them to operate safely?

In recent days reports have emerged exposing the company’s “very poor” environmental and safety record at its Grangemouth refinery.

Documents released by SEPA (The Scottish equivalent of the EA) reveal that on March 1 this year there was a gas leak under a road at the site. In May 2016 “human error” caused a discharge of 40 tonnes of sulphur. In fact there were five other unplanned sulphur discharges in 2016 at Grangemouth The investigation also found: “There was also an overflowing pollution tank in April, a carbon monoxide release in breach of an environmental standard in August and a loud ‘whining noise’ in November prompting complaints.”

Only last week workers had to be evacuated and a public road closed at the INEOS site when another gas leak developed at the site.

This catalogue of errors by INEOS demonstrates a disregard for the safety of their staff and nearby residents.

This is not a company we can trust to roll out the highly risky fracking process safely across a large area of Yorkshire.

Russell Scott, Pickering, Ryedale