‘Freedom for all’, unless our profits are put at risk Disaster deal
Sale just fail
THERE has been good coverage in the M.E.N, including in Viewpoints, of the massive fine for the health worker campaigning against the derisory one per cent pay offer.
Also last week, two non-violent activists against weapons manufacturers were arrested, refused bail, and remanded in jail. Now we see how the police manhandled women at the vigil for a safer environment for women.
This clampdown on our democratic freedoms will become greater when the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, beginning its passage through Parliament this week, becomes law.
Ironically, this is the most libertarian and freedom-loving government in decades. However, vociferous calls for freedom for all, at home as in China or the Middle East, don’t seem to apply when property or profit are challenged.
Steve Roman, Manchester
THE Office for National Statistics has reported the largest fall in overall imports and exports since records began in 1997.
Goods exported to the EU in January fell by £5.6bn – 40.7 per cent, with imports from the EU also down £6.6bn (28pc).
The British Chambers of Commerce said: ‘The significant slump in UK exports of goods to the EU, particularly compared to non-EU trade, provides an ominous indication of the damage being done to post-Brexit trade with the EU by the current border disruption.’
This implies that the disruption constitutes long-term structural problems rather than teething problems.
While British exporters have been faced with ‘astronomical’ administration costs and red tape, Michael Gove has announced that checks on imports will be delayed for a further six months, until the start of 2022, with some checks not starting until March 2022. The reason for this is that our customs infrastructure is just not there; some sites are still muddy fields; others don’t yet exist.
The UK has, of course, only had nearly five years to plan for this. Strange that the EU seems to have managed their customs checks from day one.
Sadly, it is becoming obvious that we are seeing the results of what was a disastrous deal negotiated by an incompetent government.
Mike Baldwin
ARE Sale Sharks the most boring side in the league? The predictability of their bish-bash approach is tedious and they rarely score exciting tries.
Their lack of bonus points attests to this.
Come on Sale, you have the players – more brain and less brawn!
Ian Fraser, Cheshire