Dear Sir,
I note that yet again Messrs Welsh and Clare are in the process of trying to score points off each other – this time over the visit of President Trump and the policies that he represents within the USA and their reactions to the same. I would remind both that the US President was elected by the people of the USA who knew who and what they were to elect -and did so. We should respect their choice and not try to make political capital of the American ways.
Again, I would remind the two protagonists that at least the USA get to elect their leader directly – we in the UK do not get that choice. The establishment figures get to select our leader(s), for instance Brown, Cameron/Clegg, May, of recent. Maybe the mother of democracy has something to learn from one of its children!
They also need to bear in mind that people will only ‘hear’ what they wish to hear unless there is a strong reason to hear otherwise. Trump’s election is ‘old news’ and something we all need to accept and live with, otherwise where are all the protests against the leaders of Russia, North Korea, China, et al and why aren’t you both out there ‘wasting’ your time talking about those issues, whereas the people of Aycliffe who voted for you (or you wish to vote for you) want you to deal with those issues that affect our daily lives, viz;
• helping Hitachi (with Bombardier) win UK train building contracts – rather than Italian based companies,
• curtailing the excesses of Livin and getting them to provide good quality social housing and maintain those they already have (as a gift from the electorate of Aycliffe),
• getting other companies to invest in Aycliffe and surrounding areas,
• helping generate/establish the ‘Northern Powerhouse’,
• providing a sustainable environment for us all to live in and enjoy,
• pressurising the Town Centre Management to improve the centre – living trees, more shops (not an out of centre retail park at the A1 – Quick question Are the traffic lights to be switched on for Christmas ?),
• maintain the open areas (again gifted by the electorate) enabling people to fully enjoy Aycliffe,
• assist ‘Honest John’ in finding a new home to enable him to continue to support our community.
No doubt they will respond, via Newton News, and I encourage them to do so, however I would prefer they (and their colleagues) actually did something about it other than just talk and empty promises. Come on gents, rather than ‘Same Old, Same Old’ points scoring with meaningless political diatribe – do something and help the people of Aycliffe.
John Hillary
(Again, though I share their surname, I am not related to the politicians of that name.)
