Letters to the editor: Candidates’ priorities are wrong

 
Jeremy Corbyn (Picture: PA)
Joe Giddens/PA
23 July 2015
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I feel extremely let down by both Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham abstaining from voting on the important issue of removing tax credits for a third child, less so by Liz Kendall given that I would have expected this of her.

It seems to me that the main candidates for the Labour leadership are concerning themselves more with the race and less with important social issues. This follows Sunday morning’s televised leadership debate with Andrew Neil where they expressed diametrically opposite views to those of the Acting Leader of the Labour Party, Harriet Harman. We elect our MPs to take decisive votes, not to abstain from voting on difficult issues.

Jeremy Corbyn should be applauded for being prepared to vote in accordance with his own beliefs.
Prof Sue Broadhurst

The Labour Party is not “tearing itself apart” over its reaction to welfare reform [July 21]. Nor is the party a “spent force”, as some commentators have declared recently.

There is simply a difference of opinion within the party, as the Conservatives have experienced many times, particularly over the issue of Europe. And just as it took the Tories some time to re-group after their defeat in 1997, so Labour is re-examining itself in opposition. I would imagine Labour will be a very different party when it clashes with the Tories in 2020 or, indeed, in next year’s mayoral elections.
James Clegg

Chuka Umunna MP has warned his colleagues to realise that Labour “must shift to the centre instead of the Left under the new leader,” and “meet people where they are at.” Are Labour MPs not grounded in anything of substance any more?

The electorate may be closer to the Conservative Party at this moment in time but this is because they had two parties to choose from and chose the genuine article. Someday they may well be looking for an alternative but I doubt if they will look next door, where Labour are trying on Tory clothes; they’ll want true alternatives like the Greens, Plaid Cymru or the SNP.

People want to choose from parties of principle, rooted in distinct visions and values, and will reject fickle career politicians who are only in it for power and prestige. The sooner Labour realises this, the better for them and better for the country.
Geoff Naylor

Len McCluskey got it seriously wrong when he helped bankroll Ed Miliband to the Labour Party leadership over his more experienced and astute brother David, and he is going down the same self-destructive path again with his support for Jeremy Corbyn.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was right when he said Labour could win again — but not from a “traditional Leftist platform”.

The party must move on.
Stephen Rush

Money the motive for skyscrapers

Simon Jenkins [“Proof that the City and the Mayor don’t care about the skyline,” July 21] is right that the City of London will accept the skyscraper proposal for Bishopsgate. Replacing the older city with a North American- style city of tower blocks is something they ardently desire.

Their reasoning is simple: it brings in money. And their idea of how to bring in money is equally blinkered — glass towers attract international financial institutions. For hundreds of years the complaint about the Corporation of the City of London was that they were only interested in money. The situation will continue until this destructive anachronism is abolished.
Roger Schafir

Despite Simon Jenkins’ assertion, the Mayor believes tall buildings help meet the challenge of a growing city. The key issue in any discussion on London’s skyline is whether a building makes a positive contribution to the city, protecting the things we value about our city while helping us meet the challenges of growth and ensuring London’s continued prosperity.
Sir Edward Lister, chief of staff and Deputy Mayor of London for Planning and Policy

Tories are punishing London’s poorest

In London, the high cost of living will mean a disproportionate impact from the Government’s benefit changes, with tax credit cuts potentially set to hit children whose families rely on the income top-up. Most of these families are already in work but on low incomes. The alternative is to make employers pay a real living wage.

The cap on benefits will unfairly hit poorer London families. Nobody truly believes a family’s cost of living is only £3,000 a year more in London than the rest of the country. The true problem is a lack of affordable house- building keeping prices high.

Instead of focusing on measures to increase house-building and make wages liveable, the Government led with new cuts that punish the poorest. They put politics above practical solutions and should be ashamed.
Fiona Twycross AM, Labour’s London Assembly economic spokesperson

Learning English is key to integration

As the Prime Minister set out plans to fight extremism and tackle integration, he rightly identified the fact that an inability to speak English leads to some people becoming disconnected from society.

On the same day, his Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, cut funding for teaching English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) courses, particularly for the unemployed. This will prevent them from not only integrating with society but from getting into employment and off benefits.

Many high-level professionals come to London from other countries but they could be held back from offering their vital skills to the economy.
Martin Doel, chief executive, Association of Colleges (AoC)

Sun should respect the Queen more

I totally agree with John Moffatt’s comment [Letters, July 21] about The Sun’s cowardly comments regarding the Queen. Her Majesty is one of the hardest-working women of our times and is a national icon. Still at the age of 89, she carries out her duties as she always has done without complaint or regard for her own well being. She represents Great Britain and The Sun should feel ashamed and issue an apology.
Mark Collins

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