LETTERS

Don’t call me a jihadi

HOW disgraceful that Vince Cable should seek to brand the freedom of expression made at the ballot box by 17 million people as extremist and call them Brexit jihadis (Mail).

He uses the language employed against fundamentalist terrorists to describe a democratic mandate.

I am fed up with the political elite seeking to enforce their point of view when the evidence suggests the majority are against it.

It is about time these dissenters put their efforts and considerable ability into a united front that will strengthen negotiations for a decent exit from the EU, rather than acting like fifth columnists working against the interests of the country.

JOHN PIDGEON, Cardiff. TIRED old Vince Cable is out of touch with the public. I predict the Liberal Democrats will disappear from the political scene in this country due to not having a strategy, poor leadership and always prophesying doom and gloom.

ANTHONY FERNAU, Bexhill-on-Sea, E. Sussex.

Get on with Brexit

WE HaVE less than two years to formulate our position on Brexit, so how can this be done if both sides meet for only four days at a time? Why are we not putting everything into trying to solve this very difficult problem?

Surely there must be some urgency among the negotiators.

If we have spent weeks trying to sort out the first deal, on citizen’s rights, and nothing has been agreed yet, I am not optimistic about the rest of the procedure.

ROY DYER, Rye, E. Sussex.

Cable is plain wrong

I HaVE difficulty understanding the rationale for Vince Cable’s contempt of the over-65s who voted Leave in the EU Referendum.

It is precisely this demographic who are best positioned to evaluate the benefits and disadvantages that EU membership has brought the UK over the past 44 years.

They have the life experience before and after 1973 to make an informed comparison of living within and outside the EU, which is something a 25-year-old can’t do.

Mr Cable asserts the young have been selfishly betrayed by the over65s, yet perhaps, like me, an expectant mother, they wish to protect the next generation from the EU’s 30 per cent youth unemployment.

He inaccurately claims the ‘Remain argument for economic damage is widely accepted’. How can he justify this assertion when last year the UK achieved the fastest economic growth out of all G7 countries and global giants apple, Google and Facebook have committed themselves to long-term investment and expansion in the UK?

Moreover, he fails to acknowledge the potential of the 80 per cent of the world economy that has nothing to do with the EU.

Ms S. A. CLODE, London SW7. IF YOUNG people have been ‘shafted’ — using Vince Cable’s term — by anyone, it is by successive governments, including the one in which he was a leading member, spending obscene amounts of public money that will have to be repaid by future generations.

DAVID MILLER, Chigwell, Essex.

Care home shame

THE reason some care homes are not worthy of the title is that society has lost respect for the elderly.

If these places were responsible for children or even animals, there would be an outcry at the low standards.

We wrote cheques every month for thousands of pounds for our parents’ low-grade care. Many tears were shed on all sides.

They have passed away, but we still have nightmares about how vulnerable they had become and the fact they were no longer able to fight for themselves. We feel so guilty we couldn’t care for them ourselves.

Shame on the care home owners, staff, police and politicians who know this low standard of care is being dealt out to the most vulnerable.

We owe our parents our lives and the nation owes them a debt for keeping this country free. But as a society we turn away and close the door. What a disgraceful example we are showing our children.

Name and address supplied.

Pensions and pay

YES, women did have preferential treatment where pensions are concerned (Letters) and that is intrinsically wrong.

Men had preferential treatment where salaries were concerned, until equal pay became law, a situation that was equally wrong.

I’m more than happy to accept having my pension age entitlement deferred if I can have a refund for the pay disparity over my working life.

M. FAHEY, Manchester.

Here’s the catch...

HOW can Michael Gove suggest our fishing industry does not have the capacity to catch and process all the fish in British waters and therefore

they should stay open to EU trawlers after Brexit?

What does he think caused the depletion of our fishing fleet in the first place?

We are an island nation and for centuries, until restrictions imposed by the EU made it impossible for our fishermen to make a decent living, there were hundreds of small ports that were hives of activity and employment.

CAROLE RICHES, Blackpool.

No reward

MY FOUR years of loyalty to Aviva was rewarded with a 20 per cent increase in my car insurance premium — from £308 to £368.

I questioned this with an Aviva adviser, but he said the best he could offer was a £15 discount. Instead, I shopped around and paid £332 with General Accident, which is, ironically, an Aviva subsidiary.

Mark Wilson, the Aviva boss, talks about retaining customers, but then his salary of £4.3 million a year would buy anyone’s loyalty. KEN SINKINSON,

Burnley, Lancs.

Medals of honour

ALL medals, commemorative or otherwise, awarded to the wearer are worn on the left breast (Letters).

Medals awarded to and worn in memory of deceased family members are on the right. Each Remembrance Sunday, I proudly wear my grandfather Pte James Arthur Cook’s Military Medal, awarded at the Battle of Passchendaele. Dr PETER COOK,

Margate, Kent.

Spoilt generation

I ADMIRE Dr Max Pemberton for speaking out about spoilt, screaming children (Mail).

Too many parents pussyfoot about, when a smack on the bottom or back of the legs would teach children it’s not acceptable to behave badly.

This is not child abuse; it’s teaching children to behave themselves.

I was smacked as a child and so were my two children and, like Dr Max, it didn’t harm us in any way. It taught us to respect others.

E. JOHNSTONE, Brentwood, Essex.