Why I fear Corbyn’s just as dangerous as Trump
WHEN I read the election pamphlet from my local Labour candidate, I was excited: 10,000 more police officers? A million new homes by the end of the next Parliament? £30 billion injected into the NHS and the establishment of a National Care Service? The abolition of university tuition fees? Free childcare? Lower rail fares? All amazing.
It’s a utopia that should get everyone’s vote — and that’s the problem. It’s part of a wave of pseudo-political populism whereby a charismatic politician makes promises unencumbered by reason and undeterred by doubt. Every part of society has been promised a benefit.
I accept Jeremy Corbyn is not saying he will build a wall or stating climate change is a hoax, but his contentions are just as dangerous as Trump’s.
A historian would point to the Seventies when nationalised industries proved to be a disaster. In Venezuela, similar policies have obliterated the economy and left thousands unable to buy basic necessities.
An economist would do some simple sums and find the monetary deficit. And business would ask why companies should pay more taxes when they are free to move anywhere in the world.
How is Labour going to persuade the superpowers to give up nuclear weapons? How are they going to ensure the deficit does not increase?
These questions can’t be answered, which is why I’m voting Conservative. DOMINIC LANE, Bodmin, Cornwall.
Bad for business
THE Labour Party manifesto relies on the principle of everything being equal.
But things will not remain equal and, faced with a rise in corporation tax to 26 per cent, many businesses are likely to relocate to countries that have lower tax rates.
Jeremy Corbyn was incorrect when he stated that European countries had higher corporation tax rates than the UK, when a country as close as Ireland has a lower rate. It is essential that the UK maintains a strong economic strategy, and the Labour Party model does not hold water.
An exodus of businesses abroad would result in fewer corporation tax receipts, job losses, a reduction in income tax receipts and an increase in welfare payments. What happens to Labour’s money tree then? Dead in the ground.
Students may not end up in debt, but our children and our children’s children will. The UK will have to service an ever-increasing debt mountain and austerity will be the order of the day for years to come.
Is this what Mr Corbyn means by ‘for the many not the few’?
S. BORER, East Devon.
Held to ransom
DURING the Winter of Discontent in the Seventies, this country was held to ransom by strikers. Power cuts were frequent and living in an all-electric house with two young children was difficult.
Luckily, we had an open fire, so at least I could give them something hot to eat, even if it was only soup or beans by candlelight. The streets were full of rubbish, the bereaved couldn’t bury their loved ones and transport was sporadic. This country limped along.
So, when you cast your vote, remember it isn’t just Jeremy Corbyn you are putting in No 10, but Unite trades union leader Len McCluskey and his friends.
J. AMOS, Bexleyheath, Kent.
Leaders lacking
THE choice in this election is between someone who presided over drastic cuts to police numbers; someone who consorted with the IRA and Hamas; and someone who supports the legalisation of prostitution and whose Christian principles are negotiable.
What a limited choice at a time when a leader of real stature and competence is required.
ADEYEMI BANJO, London SE15.
Count me out
SINCE I was 18, I have never failed to vote in a General Election — until now. I have never voted Lib Dem, Labour or Green and see no reason to start now. In the unlikely event the Lib Dems take power, I do not believe they will grant another referendum on the EU.
They will merely cancel the process and disregard the outcome of last year’s referendum.
If the Labour Party had a realistic chance of winning the election, it would be embarrassing to go cap in hand to Greece or Zimbabwe to ask for a handout.
The Green Party isn’t an option, either. I don’t want to live in an environment that would make the lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone look positively futuristic.
It is ironic that Ukip’s success in achieving a vote to leave the EU means, in many people’s eyes, its job is done.
Until 1990, I had always voted Conservative, but I have not done so since their betrayal of Margaret Thatcher. Theresa May talks tough on our exit from the EU, but will she follow through?
I’m disappointed by reports she has no intention of withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights. She says she has ‘targets’ for immigration — why not set hard and fast limits?
So I say this to candidates and voters: enjoy your day tomorrow, but you can leave me out of it.
DICK BOOKER, St Albans, Herts.
Tories, take note
THE Tories need to highlight two issues to win support. They must announce a massive reduction in foreign aid and highlight the fact that Mr Corbyn plans a land value tax — or garden tax — to replace council tax and business rates. It will hit London and the SouthEast, not Labour heartlands. Mrs TRUDY DRAPER, Ashurst Wood, W. Sussex.
Debt collection
JEREMY CORBYN is playing to a spoon-fed audience brought up to expect cradle-to-grave care.
As an OAP with a bus pass, the Winter Fuel Payment and state pension triple lock, why should I worry? Well, I feel only the very poorest should be entitled to this. The money could be better spent helping poorer families.
The £250 billion Labour wants to spend on infrastructure will not contribute to the deficit, but go straight onto the national debt.
Mr Corbyn has said public sector workers will receive large pay rises. One teachers’ union has already said they are 14 per cent worse off due to austerity.
Multiply this across the public sector and it’s astronomical.
RON HILDITCH, Cavendish, Suffolk.
Peace at last?
I AM a Conservative voter, but I support Jeremy Corbyn’s reluctance to engage in nuclear war.
When the country is mourning deaths in terror attacks, we should be mindful of too much criticism of a politician who prefers a pacifist approach.
CLIVE FAULKNER, Sutton Coldfield, W. Mids.
True blue
THERESA MAY needs to refute the ridiculous statements Labour is churning out and remind everyone about the Tories’ successes: the economy, jobs and extra funding for the NHS.
JEAN ALDCROFT, Congleton, Cheshire.