Letters round up

D Loxley states we are allowed to trade with non-EU countries only with the permission of the EU.

Sanctions aside, this statement is simply untrue. We can trade wherever we want with the active assistance of the UK government. We compete in the rest of the world against other EU countries.

She or he also objects to words of support for the EU from Mr Abe and Mr Obama etc as puppets of Cameron which was probably news to them. Does she or he prefer the words of support for leaving the EU from Mr Putin who invades other countries and Mr Trump who wants to build walls between countries?

Clive Milson clearly objects to immigration. As we have many more immigrants working than job vacancies, we clearly need them. It is remarkable how an immigrant can travel maybe thousands of miles speaking little English and still manage to find a job. They appear to have more initiative and drive than the Brits refusing these jobs despite having every advantage, and should be welcomed with open arms.

Immigration was blamed for the “overburdened” NHS, but we should be very grateful for immigrants for two reasons. Firstly, they provide more money into the treasury than they take out in benefits. Secondly, the NHS would just cease to function without foreign doctors, nurses, physios, porters, etc.

Eileen Banker mentions the closure of steel plants and the dumping of Chinese steel. At present, the EU leadership is trying to copy the US and raise hefty tariffs on Chinese steel to prevent this, but the UK Government is actually blocking this EU initiative to save British jobs against unfair competition.

She or he, and previous correspondents, also bemoans EU red tape, shorthand for regulations and standards. Instead of moaning, people should actively welcome standardised rules throughout the EU.

Instead of moaning, it is better to celebrate our membership of the EU, encouraging trade, promoting peace, human rights and democracy, as well as raising our prosperity.

Peter Winter, Kirby Misperton

EU's funding scam

IN RESPONSE to Kamran Hussain, Gazette & Herald letters, May 11.

I cannot understand why so many supposedly intelligent people are taken in by the EU funding scam.

Everytime you see a project funded by the EU it means they have taken £2 off you and me the British taxpayer and then they give us £1 back, but to get that £1 back our government has to add another £1 of our taxes to it, so for every one pound of EU funding it has cost you and me the British taxpayer £3.

How anybody can think it is a good idea is beyond me.

Their other argument for staying in the EU is that three million jobs depend on us staying in, but as the other EU countries sell more of their goods to us than we to them there is absolutely no chance of the EU stopping trading with us.

Can anybody imagine the Germans refusing to sell BMW cars to us? If they did, think of the massive opportunity for British car manufacturers.

Above all other arguments, ask yourself can you unelect the people that govern us. Even if every person in the UK is against a law forced upon us by the bureaucrats in Brussels, we can’t stop it or change it.

Millions of people have given their lives for our freedom and democracy, it is just wrong for our governments over the last 40 years to have signed it away.

Stephen Feaster, Cropton

Thank you so much

THROUGH your letters page I would like to thank all the people in Ryedale who responded so generously to Save the Children’s annual appeal targeted towards providing a safe home, good food and access to life-changing education.

Many of the refugee children that we hear so much about in the news at the moment are unable to access education. On Radio 4’s Today programme on May 16, Tanya Steele, Interim CEO of Save the Children, spoke about the charity’s new report “A New Deal for Every Forcibly Displaced Child” which says that only a quarter of refugee children are enrolled in a secondary school.

Save the Children is urging governments and aid agencies to adopt a new policy framework to ensure that this number increases, as well as providing opportunities for these children to access education.

Even in this country it has been reported that 40 per cent of children living in poverty leave primary school unable to read well. They are being denied their best route out of poverty. Save the Children is targeting these children through our “Read On, Get On” campaign, urging the political parties to help us reach our goal of getting every child to read well by the time they are 11 – giving them a better future.

Ryedale area has two supporter groups in Malton and Pickering and a shop in Pocklington. Together we raise funds to try and ensure that children, in this country and abroad, survive, thrive and enjoy the opportunity to live a healthy and meaningful life, which is every child’s birthright.

If you share our aims and you could give an hour or two of your time to help at local events or in the shop please contact me on 01653 694050 or e-mail janlaverick@live.co.uk.

We Save the Children – will you?

Janet Laverick, Community Contact for Ryedale

Tell the truth

I MUST thank Kevin Hollinrake MP for his reply to me in last week’s letters pages. But what he says doesn’t stand up. Indeed, fracking in this constituency is a democratic issue that he doesn’t “get”.

Firstly, Kevin hasn’t explained to us the real reason he set up his new parliamentary committee (APPG) on shale gas.

The real reason was that a local resident confronted him about the funding of APPG, of which he was vice-chairman.

Kevin surely knows that only one fracking well has been drilled so far in this country, in Lancashire. And he neglects to say that it has failed, causing cracking, earthquakes, emissions and contamination.

He says that fracking should be “properly monitored and regulated”, but doesn’t say that Environment Agency staffing has been cut to a point where the agency can barely cope.

He has also omitted to tell us that at the very first meeting of his new replacement APPG, an expert witness, Professor Richard Davies, pointed out the inadequacy of UK fracking regulations.

Evidently not what Kevin’s new committee and Minister Andrea Leadsom wanted to hear.

Like the industry cheerleader “FORGE,” Kevin tells us that he is working “tirelessly for the truth”.

But I am afraid that the general opinion of you in Ryedale is not good, Mr Hollinrake.

We are not guinea pigs for this unpredictable and dangerous industrial process, and we do not want to live in a sacrifice zone.

Four thousand of us have written to NYCC against fracking in Ryedale, with only 32 in favour. If then you really can’t represent the very great majority of your constituents, for the love of heaven resign.

Robert Field, Gilling East

Rude protest

ON Wednesday, May 11, I had an altercation with anti-fracking people that were sat in middle of pavement in the Market Place, Malton, drinking coffee.

I said excuse me when I passed first time, then on my way back, I accidentally knocked one with my handbag.

I said sorry and added that they shouldn’t be in the middle of footpath blocking people’s way.

I got a mouthful of abuse and they said that they had permission, which I don’t think was right. Who do they think they are?

Mrs C Milner (a resident of Malton for over 60 years), Malton

Volunteers call

I AM appealing for volunteers to join the current Malton and Norton Fundraising Group for Marie Curie, and would love to hear from anyone interested in finding out more information.

Group members can make an enormous difference locally by helping to raise the vital funds needed to support Marie Curie Nurses, who provide free care to people with terminal illnesses in their own homes.

The Malton and Norton Fundraising Group organises fundraising activities and collections in the local community, encourages new volunteers to help the charity, as well as supporting Marie Curie’s major fundraising campaigns such as the Great Daffodil Appeal and Blooming Great Tea Party.

If you live in Malton, Norton or the surrounding areas, and would like to be part of a fantastic group of volunteers fundraising for Marie Curie, please phone Jennifer on 01904 755260 or email Jennifer.Carmichael@mariecurie.org.uk.

Thank you for your support.

Jennifer Carmichael, Community Fundraiser for North Yorkshire (East)