Blinkered by the Boris Brexit blather?

But what about the NHS, we have the longest waiting times since records began and people on trolleys in corridors. Boris, get Brexit done.

What about the police, promising 20,000 new officers to replace the 20,000 that we lost? No it’s got to be Boris, get Brexit done.

What about schools - the large class sizes, buildings in poor condition, and parents making up the shortfall? It’s still got to be Boris, get Brexit done.

But what about the lack of houses? Surely this generation have a right to own their own home? I’m still going with Boris, get Brexit done, etc etc.

Maybe we get the leaders we deserve...

Ray Crabtree, Swanlow Drive Acaster Malbis, York

Upbeat Boris is the right man for the job

Surely the most important funding promises in this election should be for the benefit of all of us. The NHS, police, firemen, schools, security, armed forces and social care, these are the bare necessities. When Brexit is sorted out and the country is back on its feet then we can sort out other less pressing problems. Let’s put our country back together and make it great again. Boris Johnson has a strong, positive outlook on life. I’m sure he’s the right man for the job.

Pam Middleton,

Fulford Road, York

First-time voters hadn’t done their research

I was reading the interviews with the students last week (Taking the measure of first-time voters, November 29). With regards to their views on austerity, it was quite clear that they had not researched the problem properly.

Austerity came about by the previous government’s actions which resulted in almost bankrupting the country. That is why these austerity measures had to be taken - no-one wanted them but they were necessary.

So come on students, if you want to do well in your studies make sure you do your research properly before you put your cross on that ballot paper.

Michael Hodgson,

Huntington Road, York

Corbyn’s fence-sitting over Brexit disgusts me

It is with disgust that I write in relation to the ‘neutral’ stance the leader of the Labour party has taken regarding Brexit.

Prior to the 2016 referendum I was strongly in favour of remaining in the EU, but now that the result is for us to leave, we as a democratic country need to honour the will of the people. To take the ground, as Mr Corbyn, has of neither one thing nor the other is ridiculous. Trade deals will take time, but for a country to be led blindly with an indecisive leader surely will result in further delay. The nation is groaning for the job to be done and not more needless referendums.

S Hutchins,

Princess Avenue,

Knaresborough

Don’t listen to all the anti-Labour propaganda

The advantage most younger voters have over older voters like Peter Rickaby is not being exposed to years of lying anti-Labour propaganda from the right wing Tory press!

P Dawson, Fordlands Road, Fulford, York

National ‘red tops’ are distorting the news

I think that there is a certain amount of hypocrisy in Ian Murray’s column attacking political parties for producing news sheets that fool the public into thinking that they are local papers (Shameful attempt to fool the public, December 4).

Certain national newspapers, particularly the ‘red tops’, have been fooling the public for decades. Whilst pretending to report the facts some have deliberately distorted the news to suit their particular political bias. Most of these are Conservative-leaning papers. Very few national papers report political news evenly.

Perhaps the best form of reporting is by local papers. Although not perfect, their example should well be followed by the nationals. I would have more faith in news reporting by the national papers if the Society of Editors agreed that political reporting should be unbiased and factual rather than distorted.

Tim Short,

Chestnut Grove, Acomb, York

We must guard against duplicate voting

In these highly charged political times when nothing is private and political point scoring between all parties is in overdrive, surprisingly one thing appears to have remained well and truly under the political radar - the subject of election duplicate voting.

Some of your readers may have seen low-key reports in national newspapers (but mostly on social media) of allegations that students are being encouraged to vote more than once in the upcoming General Election to rig the vote in key seats.

Although students are legally entitled to register twice on the Electoral Register, once at their home address and once at their term-time address (in order that they do not miss out on voting in local elections), this does not apply to general elections when voting more than once is a criminal offence and can incur a prison sentence or a fine of £5,000.

The most alarming aspect of all this is that during the 2017 General Election there were, apparently, around 1,000 cases of multiple voting reported to the Electoral Commission yet only one person was prosecuted and given a fine. Others had no action taken against them.

From an outsider’s point of view it would appear that the Electoral Commission is turning a blind eye. Alarmingly, the most damning response from them I could find during my research was that they found it ‘troubling’. Is it any wonder that with this lax attitude there are those who will attempt to abuse the system?

Ginny Dawson, Fishergate, York