Britannia waives the rules?

In times gone by, there was a saying: “An Englishman’s word is his bond”. Nowadays with politicians almost daily promising things they know they cannot possibly deliver, this saying has a very hollow ring about it.

But up until now our politicians could still be trusted to deliver on things they had committed to in writing. Which was certainly not the case over 300 years ago when the number of treaties that were broken, admittedly made by these earlier reigning monarchs, meant we were called “Perfidious Albion”!

It would seem that this present government with its large majority in parliament also feels it is sufficiently powerful to break an international agreement, which could lead to a revival of our old derogatory name!

I was too young to remember it, but I have seen pictures of another prime minister in 1938 waving a piece of paper claiming it guaranteed ‘Peace in our time’. Perhaps I am being alarmist, but if I lived in Northern Ireland I would certainly have some misgiving that the Good Friday agreement, that has kept the peace there for over 20 years, could now not be worth the paper it is written on! At some point there has to be a ‘line in the sand’ which must not be crossed. In 1939 it was the Nazi invasion of Poland. In 2020 it could it be the reputation of this country in unilaterally changing an international agreement? I can only hope that for most MPS of all parties, this is their ‘line in the sand’ which they are not prepared to cross. Otherwise it could have serious consequences for us as we strike out on our own in the coming years.

Mike Armstrong

Queens Avenue, Canterbury

We are deeply concerned by the government’s plan to break promises made in the Withdrawal Agreement; an international treaty signed less than a year ago. The Northern Ireland Secretary admitted this would break international law. The Internal Markets Bill would renege on commitments to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and would set negotiations with Europe back to square one. The Conservatives pride themselves on being the party of law and order, of economic stability and of the Union. Now the government is openly breaking international law and paving the way to a no-deal economic disaster. How can the

Conservative and Unionist party jeopardise the hard-won peace in Northern Ireland?

The Prime Minister does not speak for ordinary Conservatives. He was elected to deliver a comprehensive, ‘oven-ready’ deal with Europe, which would help communities and businesses like mine. Yet his actions threaten not only the reputation of the Conservative Party, but the global reputation of the UK as a trustworthy nation.

Huw and Sheila Jones

Meesons Close, Eastling

I cannot believe that any member of the Conservative Party, which makes a great show of being the party of law and order, can sleep easily while the Prime Minister openly plans to break the terms of the treaty he signed seven months ago. He intends to break promises made in the Withdrawal Agreement, an international treaty, and renege on commitments to avoid a hard border in Ireland thus paving the way to a no-deal economic disaster and failure on his promise to deliver a comprehensive deal with Europe. We now hear of plans for an enormous expansion of the national coronavirus testing programme which will cost over £100bn to deliver.

No one will question the need for this but it raises further questions about the procurement processes being adopted in the

course of the pandemic. Staggering sums of money have been spent on combatting the coronavirus but there is no evidence that the Government has followed open competitive tendering processes or lawful supply contracts.

£12 million spent on a contract tracing app that never saw the light of day; £200 million spent on a centralised test and trace system that is failing to reach half of infected people’s contacts; and more than £150 million spent on masks that failed to meet safe standards and will never be used by the NHS.

Much of this important information only becomes available through the leaking of official documents which highlights the fact that we cannot rely on Government to tell us what we need to know.

It is impossible to tell how many other issues of waste, incompetence or corruption remain to be disclosed.

All of these failures are a cause for great concern for our democracy while the current Government rules the roost.

Mike Moroney

Primrose Way, Chestfield