Lessons on Brexit from the past were not heeded

THE piece by John Lapsley (Opinion, 23.9.19) warrants a response.

The turmoil surrounding Brexit can be best understood by a look at the recent history leading up to the 2016 referendum.

In 2013, the year David Cameron first raised the referendum possibility, 18% of voters would vote to exit the EU.

In early 2015, a ‘‘Yougov’’ poll revealed that leaving the EU was not in the top 10 of concerns by those voters sampled — the consequence of ‘‘austerity’’ policies of the government dominated.

The June 2016 poll resulted in a 52%48% victory for the ‘‘Brexiteers’’. This result is complicated by 28% of the electorate not voting.

This means that 37% of the registered voters voted to leave the EU. UK citizens who had lived in Europe for more than a year could not vote.

Is ‘‘Brexit’’ really ‘‘Exit’’? An English exit with Scotland, Northern Ireland, London, Cardiff and voters under 35 years all voting ‘‘remain’’?

Recent research suggests that English citizens who moved to Wales (mainly over 65) may have swung the overall Welsh vote to Brexit.

Is it any surprise there is turmoil? Peter Miller

Christchurch

Forestry

THE tropical forests of the Amazon, lungs of the world, are burning to make way for hamburgers. The forests of Borneo, Indonesia and Sumatra are being burned to make way for palm oil plantations. Vast tracts of carbon dioxide sequestrating forests in other Southeast Asian nations are also being cleared. Seasonal wildfires are rampant in parts of Europe, Australia and the US.

Meanwhile, back in Godzone, authorities are busily spending millions of dollars poisoning CO2absorbing exotic conifer species over hundreds of thousands of hectares with herbicides.

At the same time, millions are being spent to increase plantings of other conifer species as part of the country’s effort to mitigate GHG emissions. Jim Childerstone

Hampden ...................................

BIBLE READING: Be brave and strong and trust the Lord. — Psalms 27:14.