Letters: Parliament cannot be held hostage by anyone

The following letters appear in the 31st December edition of the Independent

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to announce a reshuffle next week (AFP/Getty)

The Corbyn brand of democracy

There is much speculation about a probable Labour Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, and how this will impact on divisions within the parliamentary party and the wider party membership. What appears to have been overlooked is that our democracy is the House of Commons.

Those elected are there in the first instance to represent their constituents, and in the second instance to do what is best for the country. Parliament, and in particular the direction of Her Majesty’s Opposition, cannot be held hostage to any one, unelected, section of the electorate.

Those new members of the Labour Party who in the main support the policies of its leader quite simply need to find candidates who support their views and put them up for election. Let’s then see democracy at work when most of them fail to be elected.

Robert Stewart

Wilmslow, Cheshire

As a liberal who supports Israel and opposes isolationism, I am struggling with Labour at the moment. It’s a terrible shame because the current Tory Government is in the process of demolishing the public sector, as well as destroying the lives of the poor and vulnerable just to suit their small-state ideology. Britain needs a strong opposition now, more than ever.

What a shame, then, that Corbyn and his hard-left supporters seek to silence, ridicule and condemn more moderate centre-left Labourites. What a shame Corbyn constantly puts ideology and pacifist politics before reality. What a shame Corbyn constantly makes eccentric comments that he should know can so easily be misinterpreted by the right-wing media.

What a shame Corbyn is such an uncompromising man who is so arrogant he carries on as ever, despite the dismal poll ratings and the angry, despairing voices within his own party. What a shame Corbyn lays some of the blame for Isis with the West because it would seem, according to Corbynites, the West, like Israel, is the root of all evil.

Labour won’t win with Corbyn in charge and, by George, we need rid of this rotten Government as soon as possible. Labour’s only hope and, therefore, Britain’s only hope, is for Corbyn to be replaced as soon as possible by a true centre-left, experienced, MP who speaks sense.

Sebastian Monblat

Sutton, Surrey

The British media have been obsessed with the differences within the Labour Party since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader.

This is quite unimportant: what matters is that, since his election and that of Tim Farron for the Liberal Democrats, the electorate are being given an option to vote left, right or centre. At the last general election they had three right-wing parties to choose from.

All we need now is a second chamber voted for by proportional representation and a parliament elected by the alternative vote system to give the British electorate true democracy.

John Hamilton

Crowhurst, East Sussex

When a newspaper gets it wrong

Will Gore only confuses the issue (“Front page apologies should be reserved for the biggest foul-ups”, 28 December) by seemingly conflating newspaper apologies and corrections.

It is one thing to issue an apology for causing offence, intentionally or otherwise, and it is generally good form, even if not sincerely meant. At least the person apologising will have admitted that he or she has needed to accede to public forms of decency.

A correction is another matter altogether. Newspapers in this country have a habit of printing front-page headlines that are misleading in the extreme or downright lies. They need to be held to account. That is far more important than the need to have relevant events on the front page, as Mr Gore suggests.

A corrections column may be a small corrective, but it can never produce an antidote to initial impressions.

The front page of The Sun to which he refers is mischievous, untrue, completely misleading and venomous in intent. In such a situation newspapers should be forced to offer, not an apology, but proof of their statements. If that is impossible, they should state on the front page that they were wrong.

I recall on an educational trip to Austria many years ago being told by a newspaper editor that in cases such as these, newspapers were required to place a correction in the same place and with the same amount of space as the original story. I don’t know if that is still the case, but it seemed to me at the time, and still does, a very good idea.

Larry Johnston

Modrydd, Brecon

The king who hated England

Of course Parliament’s statue of failed Crusader Richard I, so offensive to Muslims, must go (letter, 30 December).

Few kings of England have ever hated the place more. He only spent six months of his 10-year reign in England, and said that he’d sell London if he could find a buyer (clearly a role model for George Osborne).

The best thing about Richard I was that little brother John turned out to be even worse.

Richard Humble

Exeter

Floods: would any government spend enough?

As we, once again, shut our floodgates on the estuary against the real possibility of swollen rivers meeting a high tide and flooding the village, we pondered in the local whether the Government really means that it will release whatever money is required to improve flood defences in the North-west.

This at a time when spending budgets are being savaged in the very departments responsible for those defences, in a desperate Treasury attempt to solve the “deficit problem” in five years, so this government can claim the success. A problem that took so many years to build up cannot be paid off in five.

In the short term, at least, let’s insist that the UK government applies for a grant from the EU solidarity fund to help communities up here fix vital infrastructure, such as the washed away A591, the main north-south route in Cumbria. Imagine how quickly the A40 to the Cotswolds would be fixed in similar circumstances.

What would make perfect sense would be cross-party agreement to sort out the deficit over, say, the space of four parliaments rather than one, and make the cuts far less swingeing, releasing funding for the important issues for us in rural areas away from Westminster – flood defences, accessible NHS services, a police presence, retained fire services and so on.

Cross-party agreement? Impossible, you say. Nothing is impossible if goodwill and common sense are given a chance. I for one would be happy to chair the necessary meetings, bang some heads together, and reach an agreement that would be binding for the next 20 years no matter which party or coalition assumes power.

Christopher Bratt

Arnside, Cumbria

I can see the logic behind Wednesday’s letter suggesting that, if houses have to be built on flood plains, there would be advantages to having three-storey dwellings with a garage at ground level. However, these would not be suitable for people with mobility problems.

When you buy a house and enjoy good health you don’t consider that your needs may alter on a life-changing scale. As life expectancy increases, the demand for wheelchair-friendly houses will grow. The sensible solution would be not to build on flood plains at all.

Spare a thought for those people and their carers who can’t head upstairs to safety. How are the occupational therapists, district nurses and the whole panoply of support services coping in the afflicted areas? My heart goes out to them all.

Liz McKibben

Edinburgh

The Marie Antoinette cartoon on 29 December was a “laugh out loud” affair. I nearly emailed in my congratulations on the spot.

Dave Brown is a cartoon maestro of the calibre of George Cruikshank. OK, I am from the South and Anthony Day (letter, 30 December) lives in York, so perhaps has a different perception, but I think Dave’s intention was irony. He no more believes that all northerners are flat-capped, whippet owners than Marie Cameronette does... oh, hang on a minute...

Rosemary Mathew

Cambridge

An important method for reducing the danger of flooding was omitted from your list (29 December). Clear the sheep off the Pennines and the Cheviots and replace them with trees. This will reduce the blocking of rivers by silt off the hills and slow the run-off of water.

David Pollard

Salen, Isle of Mull

Can anything good come out of America? Since someone, in their wisdom, decided to give storms names, weather has just got worse and worse. Let’s go back to straightforward British rain, snow, wind, sun etc. And please, don’t anyone let in that other disgusting American habit – fracking – otherwise we shall have to cope with earthquakes as well.

Colin Hayward

Fareham, Hampshire