Tactical voting could be what the election needs

According to an Agence France-Presse editorial, the final decision facing the French electorate was “like a choice between plague and cholera”.

Fortunately in the UK we are likely to have a much broader and hopefully less toxic selection in the coming general election.

While normally a Plaid voter, this time I will have a more difficult decision to make as both Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell appear to be honest and trustworthy politicians (a rarity in itself) who have a genuine sympathy for the underdog.

Up against them on a UK level will be Theresa May, who we are told ad nauseam is strong and stable, so strong that she’s afraid to debate with Corbyn and so stable that after countless assertions that she was against an early election, she suddenly, off the top of her head, decided it would be a great idea. Of course this would have nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the economy is beginning to look less buoyant.

What complicates matters as far as voting Labour is concerned is that the party has a large Blairite rump that appears to be doing everything it can to prevent the left of their party winning power. Who needs Tories with colleagues like these?

A possible reaction to this is to study individual Labour candidates in Welsh constituencies, and suggest that Labour supporters in constituencies with Blairite candidates vote Plaid, and that Plaid supporters return the favour if the Plaid candidate is to the right of the Labour one. It’s certainly not a perfect solution but could start moving both parties in the direction I feel the majority of the Welsh electorate want.

Denver Thomas

Pontcanna, Cardiff

Why so many councillors?

UPON examining the council election tables in the Echo (May 6), I am left asking two questions: why do we need so many councillors, and at what cost to the council taxpayer?

Some councillors only obtained a handful of votes – hardly a resounding victory.

Mr R Wolstencroft

Cardiff

Move offers chance fo redevelopment

Great news about HMRC moving to central Cardiff.

What is to happen to even more empty offices created in Llanishen as a result? Perhaps finally time to demolish those two large blocks and redevelop?

Martin Rolph

Llandaff, Cardiff

No place for blood sports in Britain

Oscar Wilde described fox hunting as “the unspeakable chasing the uneatable” – a sentiment that, 12 years after the Hunting Act came into force, continues to reflect the views of British public, 84% of whom find the idea of frightened foxes being torn to shreds by packs of hounds deeply offensive.

Theresa May’s intention to exploit the unbalanced political picture in Britain to subvert the wishes of the majority for the sick (and sickening) amusement of a minority who enjoy terrorising and killing animals is blatant opportunism.

We expect those in positions of power to protect the most vulnerable and helpless, not bully and destroy them.

Blood sports of any kind have no place in modern Britain, something Mrs May will quickly come to understand if she persists in her attempt to repeal the very popular hunting ban.

Elisa Allen,

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, London

Prince Philip just like my late father

Always liked Prince Philip. He has the same witty sense of humour as had my late dad.

Also he was blond, tall, big-boned but slim and they both served in the Royal Navy. My dad served in World War I from the age of 16 when it started. I looked after him (and my mum) until he died in my home in his 90s.

He had very little formal education but was well read and considered eccentric but very clever. By the way I was told that my father had the classic symptoms of autism. I am within the spectrum as is my son, so I do wonder!

Barbara MacArthur

Cathays, Cardiff

Scientists are the new priests

The concept of God is a reflection of people’s fear and ignorance of the forces of nature and the mystery of birth, life and death.

It is not possible, however, to prove or disprove that God exists or that there is life after death.

This means that it is not possible to validate any religion’s claim that its scriptures are the word of God. So it comes down to a matter of faith, that is, believing in something that cannot be perceived or for which there is no objective evidence.

Most religions provide a carrot and stick approach – obey and go to heaven, disobey and go to hell. Brainwashing techniques, rituals and peer pressures reinforce beliefs that cannot be proved. Examples include the Islamic paradise, the Christian heaven and the Hindu concept of reincarnation. Nevertheless, religions provide their followers with a common vision, common beliefs and a moral compass that improves individual, family and community support and well-being.

Science differs from traditional religions because it provides
evidence-based explanations of the creation and evolution of the universe and life without having to believe in God, although many scientists do.

Scientists can predict cosmic events such as an eclipse of the sun thousands of years in advance and they can discover the causes of past global disasters such as global warming/cooling, asteroid strikes, super volcanic eruptions and reversals of the earth’s magnetic poles.

Science has given us the internet, technologies and medicines that have made life easier, extended the average life expectancy to more than 80 years in the developed world
and eased the aches and pains of old age.

Scientists truly are the priests and prophets of the 21st century and may one day prove that the universe and life are based on intelligent design.

Bryan D Prescott

Caerphilly