IF Boris Johnson’s 2019 General Election majority of 80 seats, with just 43 per cent of the vote, was a denial of democracy, then Labour’s colossal margin of 172 with 34 per cent voter share seems just as bad, if not worse.
No less than 26 million people did not bother to vote, according to Make Votes Matter, which is tragic, but nothing compared to the fact that the vote of six in 10 of us simply did not elect anyone.
But this election saw voters “game” the unfair First Past the Post system to throw out and punish a party whose self-obsession has ruined our country.
We have been bystanders at a psycho-drama played out in the Conservative party, where leader after leader attempted to square a Brexit circle which destroyed its ability to compromise or listen to other voices.
While there is a delicious irony for pro-Europeans such as myself witnessing their temple collapse, Britain needs a sensible One Nation, right-of-centre party.
It is clear Labour, while rejecting the clear path to Europe, recognises the immense damage done by the extremist Frost/Johnson deal.
To move forward, the Government needs to instigate the Brexit Impact Assessments that David Frost so feared.
Only then can Britain move forward to negate his failure and grow the economy as Labour’s plan requires.
I do not believe we will re-join the EU in my lifetime, but then I am over 70. What I will see is a return to sensible cooperation with our closest allies and biggest market.
Whether the increasingly irrelevant Daily Mail and its acolytes here accept the inevitable remains to be seen, but it will happen.
ALLAN RALSTON
Warrington
NOW that Sir Keir Starmer is heading a Labour Party return to accountable government, let us all hope that the sleaze and cronyism of the past 14 years is finally at an end.
The news that the Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling that water firms can be prosecuted for the routine dumping of raw sewage into rivers (Warrington Guardian, July 4), is surely a breakthrough, and a statement of ‘this far and no further’.
Like many right -thinking people, I preferred the world I grew up in, where there was at least a nod towards the concept of public standards and accountability.
In 2024, I see little of right and wrong. Only a blurring of the dividing line between fantasy and reality.
A lack of responsible government in Warrington is surely to blame for Warrington Borough Council’s £1.85billion black hole.
A recent letter from Gary Bebbington (Ducking It, Warrington Guardian, June 27), mentioning the removal of WBC’s credit facilities, surely hits the nail on the head in terms of common sense.
Warrington Borough Council could have led by example, but instead it chose the pointing finger.
Insanity, Albert Einstein once said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
It is time for a ‘hands-on’ approach at Bank Park. The buck stops here.
TIM CLEWORTH
Warrington
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here