Britain lost its nerve over Brexit — and its chance for sovereignty.
Re: May has done her best, Conrad Black, Nov. 17, and What would possess Scheer to endorse Brexit nonsense? Andrew Coyne, Nov. 17
It is a shame to read the normally well-informed Conrad Black referring to “one-size-fits-all condoms” as a European Union ruling from Brussels. This is one of many EU “myths.” The EU Commission asked the European Standardisation Committee (CEN), a voluntary association of national standards organizations, to develop a voluntary standard for quality, not size, of condoms so that users can have some assurance of reliability according to objective measures.
CEN is not an EU body. Its members are drawn from EU nations as well as non-EU nations.
Mr. Black’s comment on how grocers are to stack their shelves is also a myth. Such distortions of the truth by British tabloid media are what led many in Britain to vote for the Brexit. Thomas Kelly, Burlington, Ont.
You may not get it — but sovereignty matters.
It’s the reason Norway did not join the EU — and continues to pays high sanctions to maintain this status. Just like Norway, the U.K. can negotiate other agreements with the EU.
The real issue here is the EU’s frenzy to stop the bleeding. Like Russia with the U.S. elections — it’s unrealistic to believe that the EU hasn’t been involved in propaganda in the U.K. to try to end Brexit.
Scheer is right to defend sovereignty. In a world of dictatorships and bullies, nothing is more valuable than your autonomy. K. Rivera, Mississauga, Ont.
Over drinks after a meal at a friend’s new home in Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire, not far from Chequers, the country home of the British prime minister, our conversation turned to Brexit, a favourite topic for the English, and for my wife and I, an eye-opener.
Their beautiful new home was built according to local bylaws that included regulations imposed by the EU. These EU rules said all doors to washrooms had to accommodate wheelchairs. The entrance to their front door needed a wheelchair ramp and if these adjustments were not included, when neither of our friends used a wheelchair, the building permit would not be issued.
Our friends didn’t quarrel with the logic of the regulations, only the method of imposition. They asked “how do you argue with a rule imposed by someone in another country (Belgium) with whom you can’t discuss the reasons for the rule?” They had a good question and one Conrad Black understands, and Andrew Coyne does not.
Mr. Black understands, probably from his time living in England, that the idea of delegating the rules of your daily life to someone in a foreign land is not only unacceptable, but dangerous.
It matters little about economics and it means nothing if the faceless bureaucrat in some far off land is right. What matters is how the decision is made, who makes it, and how an individual can influence the decision-making process.
We have a comfort zone here, but in the United Kingdom, that comfort zone was infringed upon to the extent that the majority said “Enough.” Regardless of what the pundits say, in a democracy, does not the majority rule?
Conrad Black is right and Andrew Coyne is wrong. Ian Stout, Mississauga, Ont.