ES Views: A hung parliament — now what are we going to do?

Theresa May returns to No.10 after the shock election result
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9 June 2017
WEST END FINAL

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Wow, what a night. As election losses go, this one doesn’t feel like a defeat at all. For the second time in two years, the Conservative Party has embroiled the UK in political turmoil, all in a misguided attempt to resolve a dispute within their own party.

Even when the exit polls were released, I did not believe them. At the beginning of the election campaign, Labour were said to be facing near annihilation, yet here we are with Corbyn looking statesmanlike and Theresa May irreparably damaged.

The country may be more polarised than ever, the Left of Labour is in the ascendant. A hung parliament suits no one but it’s difficult not to crack a wry smile at how serious a miscalculation the Tories have made.

The high turnout is extremely significant and positive but it remains to be seen whether people will remain engaged when there is so little public appetite for any more politics with no end in sight.
Roger Kearns

So we will probably have another election with the likelihood of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister due to our younger voters wanting something for nothing. Labour then go on a spending spree, the economy then collapses as always under Labour, the Tories regain power and sort out finances once again. And so it goes on. But the parties have still not addressed our concerns over open borders and overseas aid.

Expecting people to accept austerity when the aid budget is not cut or redirected for the UK is a vote loser.
T Sayer

Thursday’s result is a just reward to Theresa May for her carelessness. She’s succumbed to a self-inflicted wound. Nobody else is to blame but herself. Let’s hope we might now see a Tory Party that elects a leader with a decent moral compass and who will work for the good of the country and not their own narrow self ends.
Richard Loweth

It’s important to remember during election time that we all see the world differently. We have our own needs, desires and priorities.

It’s worth remembering the things we share and, in particular, the values we have in common such as democracy, liberty, freedom of speech, diversity, religious choice and, most of all, tolerance. Happy Election Day — it’s a day to celebrate not commiserate.
Tony Howarth

Shame on the folk who voted Remain in the EU if they now voted for either Labour or the Tories in this election. Had the 48 per cent who voted Remain instead backed the Lib-Dems then we would have a real contest on our hands. The Lib-Dems may have no voice, with just a few MPs but there is more substance to them if given a chance. At least it is the party that closely tells the truth unlike the others who can barely be trusted.
L. Sequeira

Wild London: Strong sentinels in uncertain times

If one tree were to symbolise the strength and resilience of London, it would be the sturdy hornbeam. This is a tree that grows, slowly and surely, to 25 metres tall and can live for 300 years. The hornbeam’s wood is harder than oak and other native trees, tough enough to blunt swinging axes, bend saws and deter all but the most determined woodpecker.

The tree’s name stems from the Old English for “hard wood”, and despite the timber being notoriously difficult to work, it has been put to good use over the years — shaped into heavy-duty axles, gun butts, butcher’s blocks and as cogs for London’s windmills and water mills. Most importantly, the dense wood produced very high quality charcoal, the fuel on which Londoners cooked for centuries.

Hornbeam sport oval, finely serrated leaves and a smooth, grey bark that appears to have been forged, slightly twisted and then abraded down to provide a muscular, dreadnought finish. Hanging clusters of pale green, winged fruit emerge in September, like twisted chandeliers. These are favoured by hawfinch (now rare in London), but also tits, chaffinch, and small mammals such as wood mouse and bank vole. The leaves turn golden-yellow and orange as autumn advances, but cling to the branch, rattling in the wind until a fierce-enough storm wipes the trees clean.

As London’s ovens switched from charcoal to coal and then gas, the industrial importance of hornbeam declined, but by then many of the city’s woodlands had been protected for our enjoyment. Today hornbeam is easily spotted in London during walks, with some of our favourite spots including Epping and Hainault Forests, Highgate Wood, Ruislip Woods, Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Woods, and Bexley Wood.

Hornbeam is the tree that quietly helped London grow, and kept its people warmed and fed for centuries. Hornbeam is London’s tree.

We demand the full Trump truth

In the few months that President Donald Trump has been in office, he has achieved nothing of worth except making sure all attention is on him.

I believe that President Trump should not be allowed a state visit this year. Even though ex-FBI director James Comey’s testimony may not bring the swift impeachment we are all looking for, the fact remains that Trump is an unstable figure incapable of self-moderation or understanding critical facts about politics and science.

Not only were his tweets criticising Mayor Sadiq Khan after last week’s attack uncalled for, they were also unhelpful. He has shown he is not leader material and his only agenda is pushing his ego onto the world. More than half of Americans believe he is unfit for office.

I am concerned that Trump’s wealth and contacts will stop the truth about him from coming out — for the sooner he is out of the White House, the better.
Mark Bradley

Concerns over the bridge barriers

Further to the devastating events of last Saturday, I would firstly like to offer my heartfelt condolences to both the victims and their families. This is so sad for our beautiful city.

I am a Santander bike rider who cycles daily from London Bridge to Bloomsbury and back again in the evening across Waterloo Bridge. The addition of the barriers this week is unfortunately a vital necessity.

However, I cannot help but think that this is a knee-jerk reaction to something that should have been introduced immediately after the Westminster atrocity in March. The positioning of the barriers on the extreme left-hand side of the road is badly thought through — it has decreased the width of the cycle lanes and gives the cyclist no where to go in the event of a too-close car, motorbike, bus, van or, God forbid, an incident similar to Saturday night.

At present I have taken the decision to walk the bike across Waterloo Bridge on the pavement as I feel safer. Why were the barriers not put on the outside of the cycle lane to protect both pedestrian and cyclist?

Paul Levy

Murray’s revival is so good to see

How heartening to see Andy Murray perform so well at the French Open, at a time when by his own admission he was sometimes lacking motivation and struggling to recover from injuries and illness.

Today he plays in the semi-final against Stan Wawrinka — a big test, for sure, but there is every chance that Murray could prevail. And should Rafael Nadal win his semi-final it would set up a mouthwatering final on Sunday and the chance

for Murray win the French for the first time.

Win or lose today, it will also be a relief to the organisers at Wimbledon that its star attraction is finding his true form again at the right time. Not to mention giving the great British sporting public some cheer away from endless football and the tiresome sagas over the future of managers such as Arsene Wenger.

Tom Dyson

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