You have to use your vote to get Britain you want

I UNDERSTAND how most voters are disillusioned, given the outof-touch attitude of the majority of MPs. However, I do not think anyone should think of not casting their vote (Letters) when the opportunity is finally given to us.

To not vote in a General Election will simply allow more of the same. The fanatics who shout outside Parliament will certainly vote, as will all those gullible enough to believe that the EU dictatorship is the answer to their needs.

Surely what is needed is for all of us who have the right to vote, no matter our political persuasion, to question the candidates standing for election in our constituencies.

We need to make certain we elect someone who will represent our point of view, rather than dogma trotted out by a political party.

JOSEPH ALEXANDER, Sheffield. I DECIDED I would not vote again, but have changed my mind. We must not allow a Communist to get into Downing Street.

Make your vote count and don’t be discouraged, otherwise the extremists will win.

E. CHRISTE, Holmfirth, W. Yorks.

Fit to be an MP?

THE disillusioned man in the street may not want to use his vote, but the activists do.

At the next General Election, we must stop voting along tribal lines and instead look at the person behind the rosette. Are they fit to be an MP?

D. J. WHITE, Basingstoke, Hants. PLEASE grit your teeth and vote when the opportunity comes to ensure any MP who has tried to obstruct the democratic result of a legitimate referendum will not be allowed to do so again.

B. SIMPSON, Preston, Lancs.

Savings battle

BARONESS Ros Altmann is fighting a losing battle (Mail). Nothing will be done about savings rates.

As long as politicians and public sector workers receive goldplated, final-salary pensions, they will do nothing to help those who are relying on their savings to eke out a paltry retirement income.

I don’t recall MPs protesting when Gordon Brown targeted private pensions, and nothing has been done since, other than the so-called ‘pensions freedom’.

But those in drawdown who don’t take an annuity are still subject to stock market fluctuations and have the constant worry of a changing income stream. That is not freedom.

Things will get worse under a Corbyn government, which will see savings as a taxable cash cow whether they are being used to subsidise a low income or not.

Name and address supplied.

Arise, Sir Failure

THERESA MAY’S resignation honours list includes her former advisers Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who played a significant part in her General Election fiasco and consequent reduced majority.

It also includes Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins, whose failure cost the prime minister her job.

Making a pig’s ear of things doesn’t seem to matter as much as it would in the private sector.

When will we see politicians and civil servants being held accountable for their mistakes? They are

certainly paid enough to get things right.

M. KENNEDY, Stockport, Gtr Manchester. THE resignation honours are crammed full of senior public servants who have done nothing other than their job.

A knighthood or damehood is supposed to be one of the most esteemed honours and I’d like to think the recipients have done something exceptional and beyond the call of duty. However, they have been handed out to people who have failed to deliver.

Contrast this with those who are awarded lower-ranked honours, who work tirelessly for years, often unpaid and unrewarded, helping their communities and supporting good causes. ANGUS LONG, Newcastle upon Tyne. IT’S A wonder Theresa May didn’t nominate herself for a damehood for her ‘success’ with Brexit. B. HILL, Gloucester.

Gesture posturing

WHAT a ridiculous, meaningless stunt for the Archbishop of Canterbury to prostrate himself to apologise for the Amritsar massacre, which took place years before he was born. If you have not had any involvement in an outrage, how can you apologise for it?

This is gesture posturing of the worse kind and detracts from evils still going on all around the world, including towards Christians, which he could have highlighted.

S. BIDDLE, Littleport, Cambs. I DON’T recall the Archbishop showing this public display of humiliation before the victims of child abuse by Anglican clergy.

Grandstanding seems his forte, as well as meddling in political affairs that do not concern him. REX DE VAUGRAT,

address supplied.

Panto Parliament

LIKE a well-watched drama, the late summer series of Parliamentary theatre has, to calls of ‘Encore!’, disappeared behind drawn curtains. Our national armchair theatre has been curtailed.

Rehearsals will be arranged for existing performers and auditions for aspiring actors before a cast is selected in time for the panto season. Though the political stage will be reset, the plot of this longrunning farce will be resumed.

But with admission prices too high for many to pay, will we witness another flop through lack of involvement or interest?

PAUL KEY, Nottingham. HOW great that we will not have the parliamentary circus for the next few weeks.

But when MPs return, we will have the same old mix of Tory rebels, Marxist Corbyn and opportunists from the minority parties plotting to reverse the referendum result. Oh dear, will it ever end?

G. HILL, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.