Take back our borders

HOW dare Theresa May ‘ take the moral high ground’ and offer almost four million people from the EU not only the right to remain in the UK, but also the ability to bring in their close family members.

They will all be entitled to access our education system, the NHS and welfare benefits, including pensions.

While the qualifying age to claim the state pension is continually being extended, how can the Government even consider allowing more people to come into the UK?

The Prime Minister’s argument is that we could have a labour problem after Brexit. If that is correct, we should start with some of our own unemployed who are content to live on benefits, and get them to fill the vacancies.

We voted to take back our borders, not make them more porous. Mrs JOYCE CRICKMORE,

Marks Tey, Essex.

No Mickey Mouse degree

I AM incensed at the description of ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees (Mail). My son went to Plymouth Marjon, one of the universities in the article, to study outdoor education and sports science. He graduated with a 2:2.

His love of outdoor pursuits started as a Boy Scout, so it wasn’t a case of opting for an easy degree — it was what he really wanted to do.

It was not an easy course and the research dissertation mockingly referred to was, in fact, challenging.

The independence and life skills the university gave him was almost as important as his degree.

He arrived a shy teenager with low self-esteem and emerged three years later confident and sure of his own abilities.

He has since taught in a primary school for more than ten years, been promoted, and developed the school’s sport to such a level that it wins local and county tournaments.

It is renowned for its sporting excellence, which is mainly down to my son’s efforts.

Had he studied for a more academic degree he was not interested in, and for which he was unsuited, I doubt thatt he would have achieved so much. Education would also have lost out on a great teacher.

MARGARET HILL, address supplied. IIF THE education on offer is exemplary, then perhaps the cost of studying for a degree is incidental.

However, if the teaching is poor quality and not value for money, students and their parents should wwithhold some of the fees.

R. I. A. GREEN, Malvern, Worcs. MY GRANDDAUGHTER wants to go to university, but her mother is concerned about the level of debt she will incur.

So I’ve researched the courses that could c transform the debt into a profit: Computer-aided blancmange design. Non-chav Come Dine With Me studies. Paranormal research in local authority allotments. Rap music studies for giraffes. And how to use a pen for smartphone users. MARTYN CURTIS, Caversham, Berks.

Thieves let off the hook

YOUNG shoplifters are no longer of interest to the police and shopkeepers have been advised to inform their parents (Mail).

When a case of gemstone jewellery worth £20,000 was stolen from my antique shop, the police did not even speak to me.

An hour after reporting the crime, I phoned 999 back because no other contact number had been given, and I requested a visit by a crimescene officer.

The operator told me that my case had been closed because nothing could be done.

When criminals logged on to a computer stolen from my sister’s house and she told the police the address where it was being used, she was told that, as it was a house of multiple occupancy, the police would not be attending. ANN MILLER, Saffron Walden, Essex.

Bungalow bunglers

I HAVE every sympathy with the reader who lives next door to offices that have been converted into flats overlooking his garden (Letters).

My local authority has given approval for two bungalows in a peaceful avenue to be demolished and replaced with two blocks of eight flats.

This comes despite numerous letters of objection and a petition signed by almost every resident.

The council’s reason? The development meets its targets for building homes and the land occupied by the bungalows was ‘under-utilised’.

This shows complete disregard for residents. Now every bungalow is under threat from this sort of development and there will be no available properties for downsizers.

Name supplied, Morden, Surrey.

Jobs apocalypse

ALMOST half of British jobs are at high risk of disappearing by 2030, thanks to the fourth industrial revolution. In the age of accelerating artificial intelligence, it would be possible to engineer the cost of labour out of many services.

The result, as the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said, will be up to 15 million job losses, including tens of thousands of public sector jobs.

New job opportunities will arise, but not at a rate fast enough to absorb the swathes of displaced workers in low- skilled and professional employment.

The ability to consume is key to a capitalist economy — if the unemployed become unable to do so, how will taxes be raised to support the social infrastructure?

The Swiss recently held a referendum on whether to introduce a basic income for everyone, employed or unemployed, but this concept seems totally inadequate in meeting what is an existential threat.

JOHN BARKER, Prestbury, Cheshire.

Glued to the speedo

I HAVE always tried to observe the speed limits. However, I am appalled that a Chief Constable is even giving consideration to the daft idea of prosecuting motorists for exceeding the speed limit by just 1 mph.

The threshold for prosecution which is currently in place was introduced not to allow speeding, but to differentiate between accidental and deliberate speeding.

I agree that those who habitually and continuously speed should be prosecuted.

I suspect that, like me, most drivers monitor their speed by occasional glances at their speedometer.

The proposed new approach would mean drivers would have to stay glued to their speedo, which is likely to increase, rather than decrease, the chance of an accident.

Going too slow causes frustration, which is why considerate motorists drive at a speed close to the limit.

ROBERT STEWART, Littlehampton, W. Sussex.