Letters, Saturday September 26, 2020

People like me who have been trying to warn others of the looming catastrophe that is ‘Brexit’ have been labelled as “scaremongers”.

In fact, the Government has recently issued its own “reasonable worst case scenario”, which is pretty scary.

They concede the probability of queues of HGVs in Kent, consisting of “up to 7,000 vehicles”, without mentioning that the number of vehicles passing through the Channel ports each day is 7,000.

Some time ago the Government admitted that such a queue could only be cleared by the recruitment of 50,000 customs agents.

When asked in Parliament recently how many had been recruited, Michael Gove refused to give a figure.

In the absence of any contrary evidence, a safe assumption is “nil”.

There is an old legal adage which goes “If you do not have a good case, abuse the plaintiff”, and this is what the Prime Minister is preparing to do.

Two targets are being lined up for blame; the companies which have to handle the trade and the EU.

However, it is impossible to point the finger in their direction because the details depend upon a deal that does not exist. The “reasonable worst case scenario” that ministers warn about is not an accident or unintended consequence. It is a function of the plan which they hailed last year as a “triumph”.

John Prance

via email

politics

Some questions for you, Chris...

The Labour Party Conference this week saw no new policies announced and their new leader reluctant to answer important questions.

Instead, their new ploy, as stated by their Education spokeswoman, is to, “exploit a good crisis”. Apparently millions of people dying from Covid-19 is now a good political opportunity according to the twisted view of some. As Keir didn’t want to answer any questions, I thought it important to give local Labour candidate, Chris Webb, an opportunity to redeem his Party. Over to you Chris:

1. Your millionaire leader Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) has been unable to name a single policy difference between him and Jeremy Corbyn. Can you name one?

2. Labour’s Education Spokeswomen, has shown Labour want to play politics with people’s lives calling the coronavirus pandemic a “good crisis” the party can exploit. What message does this send out to the people in Blackpool who have sadly lost loved ones from this awful illness and why haven’t you condemned her comments?

3. A former Labour minister has conceded her party is “out of touch” with the British public. Do you agree and why do you think you have personally lost three elections in Blackpool?

4. Labour’s top team have been told ‘your job is not to generate policy, it’s to get out there and attack the Tories’ - showing they are still focused on the sort of political point scoring that people decided to move on from at last year’s election. Looking at your social media account, attacking the Tories is all you seem to do. Do you have anything constructive to say?

5. New analysis showed that 96 per cent of Labour’s funding comes from trade unions – whose leaders have demanded that they don’t abandon Corbyn’s far-left policies. You recently put up a fundraising page for donations to your campaign and so far only £10 has been donated. Why do you think nobody wants to donate to your campaign?

6. Shadow Business Minister, Seema Malhotra, argued that handouts for everyone should be an ‘important part’ of Labour’s economic plan – following the thinking of Jeremy Corbyn. Where will the money come from for this?

7. The Labour leader refused to give answers on important issues like whether he would back a trade deal with the EU, whether Labour would back or if he would use the nuclear deterrent if needed to keep our country safe. What is your view (if you have one)?

8. Labour’s Deputy Leader has been none-too-subtle in suggesting that Sir Keir should “get out of the way” in favour of an alternative leader. Why won’t your Party trust a women to lead it?

9. It has been revealed that Sir Keir has previously suggested it was racist to argue for any control on immigration, saying, “it is not a question of numbers, it’s a question of racism”. Do you think its racist to impose limits on immigration?

The Blackpool public look forward to hearing your answers.

Scott Benton

Blackpool South MP