LETTERS

Write to: Daily Mail Letters, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT email: letters@dailymail.co.uk

Rise of the robots

IN HIS article predicting that robots will take 10 per cent of British jobs (Mail), I’m surprised that Bank of England governor Mark Carney didn’t mention they wouldn’t be a drain on the NHS or produce offspring needing education and child benefit.

He also didn’t point out that robots don’t buy houses, pay income tax or VAT, buy food, pay utility bills, run a car, book holidays, eat out, go to the theatre, cinema or to a football match or buy clothes.

I wonder who is going to make up the millions of pounds that robot workers won’t be contributing to the economy?

SANDRA DAVIES, Truro, Cornwall.

Illiberal Lib Dems

VINCE CABLE needs reminding that democracy means respecting the majority vote, not seeking to undermine and overturn the result of the referendum, the only ‘people’s vote’ that counts, because he isn’t happy with the outcome.

After every General Election, should we have a re-run so the aggrieved losers can try to get the result they want?

It appears that Mr Cable’s assertion that the Liberal Democrats respect people of different views and creeds doesn’t extend to those who voted for Brexit. It sounds more like an illiberal dictatorship than Liberal Democracy to me. JONATHAN WRIGHT,

heswall, Wirral. ON WHAT planet does Vince Cable live? He is demanding a people’s vote on the final Brexit agreement, but the negotiated terms will consist of hundreds of pages. Will all voters be sent a copy of this huge document to inwardly digest before we can come to a decision? Do me a favour! BOB PHILLIPS,

Southampton. AFTER a long search for a successor to Only Fools And Horses, the BBC has hit comedy gold. It’s called the Liberal Democrats Conference.

DAVID GRAY, London. IN WHICH telephone box are the Lib Dems holding their conference?

JOHN SADLER, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset.

Tax the drug trade

THE excellent front page report on the scandal of child slave drug runners (Mail) is timely and highlights an urgent need for action.

However, urging the police to crush the evil dealers who enslave children won’t work. With the drug trade worth billions of pounds, so much money is involved that no amount of police effort can stop it.

New dealers simply replace those who are arrested. Prohibition has failed, so the only rational solution is legalisation and regulation of drugs, as we do with alcohol.

The money made through taxation would be enormous.

TONY JACKSON, oxford.

Let’s all pay for care

HOW can we raise the funds needed for the NHS and social care? Like it or not, the simplest method is to deduct it from everyone’s payslip on top of National Insurance and income tax.

Trying to hide the cost by increasing tax on fuel, tobacco, beer and spirits, extending VAT or playing around with tax codes will only get people’s backs up.

I remember my first payslip at the age of 16 included a deduction to pay for the pension. It was compulsory, so there was no point in moaning about it. I was happy when I retired and qualified for my state pension.

Don’t complicate the system any more than is necessary. We should be glad to fund care in old age for those who need it. HOWARD TALBOT, Scunthorpe, Lincs.

Obey, pay . . . but no say

AS RICHARD Littlejohn asked: When is Mother Theresa going to stand up for Britain (Mail)? Her Chequers deal can best be summed up as ‘obey and pay, but no say’.

This is even before the next round of concessions exclusively by us. Predictably, the scallop war has been settled in France’s favour with their fishermen getting exactly what they wanted.

MIKE HAIRSINE, Sutton Coldfield, W. Mids. IN HER negotiations with the EU, Theresa May appears to be following the result of the referendum. We will be leaving the EU in accordance with the majority vote, but maintaining a close economic relationship to take into account the view of the large minority who voted to Remain.

Leavers and Remainers are both entitled to have their wishes taken into account. R. MCGAHAN, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear.

Time to give up

THERE have been recent reports about cuts to police funding and the fact that not all crimes are being investigated. The Madeleine McCann investigation is running out of funds and more money is being sought.

It’s 11 years since this little girl disappeared in Portugal and every avenue has been followed in a worldwide search for her.

However, after all this time, the trail appears to have gone cold and the investigation has reached an impasse. Only when there is a serious new line of inquiry should we continue the investigation.

Sad it may be, but when there are finite resources, one case can’t be allowed to absorb so much funding.

KATHRYN BONDS, London SE19.

Flex our Euro-muscles

WHY aren’t we being told about how Brexit is scaring the Europeans? German car workers are terrified of the UK buying fewer cars and Spanish resort hotels dread the drop in business if UK holidaymakers face travel restrictions.

Their fears are our strength. We buy far more from Europe than it buys from us, so why aren’t our negotiators using our immense import strength to tell the EU what deal we will accept?

BURT EDWARDS, hoddesdon, herts. MY HUSBAND and I have just returned from Italy where we were charged a tourist tax of £3.55 per person, per night.

The UK is missing a trick. If we have to pay EU governments for the privilege of spending our money in their countries, shouldn’t we reciprocate with a tourist tax here? CHRISTINE COTTON,

Fareham, hants.

Road to ruin

THERE is a flaw in the argument to lower the drink- drive alcohol limit from 80mg to 50mg (Good Health).

When has punishing the responsible ever deterred the irresponsible? Though almost all other countries in the EU operate the lower limit, only Sweden has a lower accident rate than the UK, suggesting that it is unlikely in itself to help much. It

would be far better to rigorously enforce the 80mg limit and use better roadside test results that can be valid as evidence in court.

Targeting irresponsible drivers would not only remove the worst offenders from our roads, but send a powerful message to everyone to comply with the limit.

MARK FRANKLIN, Bromyard, Herefordshire.

Neither he nor she

IT’S naive to suggest that the creator of the universe is some kind of being and to suggest that a gender is involved is beyond ridiculous.

Our imagination is far too limited to picture the force behind creation, which is why we give that force the name God.

While God is constantly referred to as ‘he’, there will exist a subconscious feeling that life was created by a male, so the sooner we call God ‘it’ the better. NORMAN WANSTALL,

Burford, Worcs.

Royal soap opera

HOW I imagine breakfast time at Highgrove House.

Charles: ‘I don’t believe it! A royal is appearing in the raunchy new television drama Trust.’

Camilla: ‘Has Meghan gone back to work?’

Charles: ‘ No, it’s Sophie Winkleman, Princess Pushy’s daughter-in-law.’

Camilla: ‘ Oh her! I get her mixed up with Kate. All those young women look the same.’

Charles: ‘I’ve a good mind to ask Sophie what she thinks she’s playing at.’

Camilla: ‘Oh, I understand where she’s coming from. I’m getting a bit fed up of having to cut ribbons and unveil statues all over the place. What if I got a nice little part in a sitcom? Dorien in Birds Of A Feather could probably use a new friend.’

Charles: Splutters a mouthful of finest Earl Grey. JOHN RUTHERFORD,

Sevenoaks, Kent.