MY HOPES for a sensible election campaign are forlorn from the start.

This should be one opportunity for the electorate to select a candidate for Parliament who will sort out the many problems within our public services. Instead it will be a one-issue slanging match.

There is a need to stem the infectious malaise affecting our political parties and to make our country a fairer place to live for us all, not to mention a concerted and genuine effort to prevent further abuse of our precious planet.

We can appreciate their passion, but politicians need to eliminate the constant bickering, the bad-mouthing and childishly pathetic political insults. What has happened to honest debate between sensible, educated people who are able to discuss a point without constantly referring tit-for-tat to a bagful of meaningless statistics supplied by political analysts? And why do we need so many egotistical political commentators who seem unable to listen for more than five seconds without interrupting their interviewees?

Politics has become a shabby circus and the public are bored of even the mention of the word, but most fail to realise the importance of engaging.

With so many important problems to solve, the December election will be a shambles. Inevitably it will be based on the way we leave (or not) the EU, either as friends or enemies; we are already a laughing stock in Europe.

After accepting the Brexit vote I appealed for cross-party discussions and negotiations on the exit deal to make sure it was equitable for Britain as a whole; I thought it too important to the country to be left in the hands of one party.

Consequently the negotiations have come down to serving the financial sector, the vested interests of hedge-fund managers, the financial asset managers of global companies and the banks. Where were the trade union representatives, the NHS managers, public service managers and the owners of small businesses in these negotiations? Sidelined.

This is not the democracy that Brexiteers constantly harp on about as being so important, as if it was the only issue concerning the underprivileged.

Voters should be thinking laterally to elect candidates who they can trust to heal the rift between all the sectors in our fragmented society.

We need to trust our politicians not to make inflated party pledges which will subsequently be pushed aside once in power.

It is easy to understand why people take on board the charmingly inflated promises and the rhetoric of bully-boy politics; that doesn’t mean they tell the truth: it is taking action that defines their words.

I’ve lived long enough to see many promises cynically broken by ambitious government ministers; they know that they can get away with it over time and that should stop, penalties should apply.

Neither should we take any notice of the bombast and the hot air escaping from the puffed-up chest of Donald Trump. He is quick to complain about Russia and others trying to undermine his position so why should we accept his ludicrous outbursts in trying to affect our domestic politics? And now he is pulling the USA out of the Paris climate accord, words fail me.

Roy Wilcock

Kendal