MPs are making a mockery of our democracy

PARLIAMENT is a shambles and MPs are a disgrace for showing no respect for the wishes of the british people. they do not appear to believe in democracy.

Ever since the people voted to leave the Eu, MPs have tried to block this by using every trick in the book. they are not interested in the welfare of our country, only in themselves.

throughout the negotiations with the Eu, the divisions in Parliament have only succeeded in strengthening Europe’s position and weakening ours.

If MPs screw up brexit, the people will never forgive them. Jeremy Corbyn, boris Johnson and Jacob rees-Mogg think they can get a better deal than theresa May, but they are living in cloud cuckoo land.

W. J. JOnES, Dudley, W. Mids. WHAt a farce! MPs should reflect the way their constituents voted in the referendum. Hopefully, those who failed in their duty will find themselves out of a job after the next General Election.

D. KingMan, Dorchester, Dorset. brEXIt Plan b should be what we voted for: a No deal brexit.

TERRy COOTE, Barking, Essex.

Safe voyage

I AGrEE with the proposal for the Government to run a ferry service for refugees from France to the uK (Letters). It would be much safer than picking them up in the Channel and would avoid the misuse of the rNLI.

However, as the present policy looks as if we are acting as unpaid agents for people smugglers, we should be making a charge of £5,000 for each refugee, which I understand is the going rate.

this would defray some of the cost of processing asylum applications and help cover housing and other benefits.

DaViD lOWER, Marden, Kent. I HAVE worked for a resettlement programme helping refugees to build lives in this country, have taught English for speakers of other languages and have many friends who are refugees from different countries.

In my experience, many immigration cases are falsified due to an understandable desperation to escape failing countries and start a new life in Europe.

Economic migrants aspire to come here to learn English or because they already speak the language; to find work in our thriving and unregulated black market economy; or to raise a family and take advantage of our world-renowned education and benefits system, plus the opportunities afforded by life in the uK.

While brexit could limit immigration here from the Eu, the question of how to limit asylumseeking individuals remains a difficult one.

name and address supplied.

Green betrayal

A GoVErNMENt ideal, fed to them by green lobbyists and voted on by MPs, is costing poor families thousands of pounds.

the Green deal was meant to reduce bills and energy consumption and make houses warmer.

but has any renewable project been cost effective in generating cheap electricity or in saving money for the consumer?

Nuclear power stations would eliminate the need for coal for electrical generation, but no, the Greens want to ban cars instead.

If they really believed there is a problem with Co2, politicians and business leaders would stop flying, scrap petrol and diesel cars, and travel only by public transport. STEVE RiCHaRDS,

Fareham, Hants.

Doomed to be obese

AS A scientist who has spent years studying the genetic causes of obesity, I was dismayed at dominic Lawson’s response to the royal College of Physicians’ decision to classify obesity as a disease.

He claims many obese or overweight individuals are perfectly healthy, providing as supporting evidence his personal experience of obesity, and declares the notion that his body weight might be inherited (ie genetic) to be absurd.

In countless studies, obesity has been proven significantly to increase a person’s risk of serious disease including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Work in my lab and many others has led to the identification of numerous obesity genes.

the scientific evidence that a person’s body weight is at least 50 per cent determined by their genes is unassailable.

lUKaS STaDlER, Cambridge.

Meagre Monday

I’VE enjoyed the series about dr Michael Mosley’s updated 5:2 diet, raising the limit on fasting days to 800 calories (Mail).

However, this concept is not new to me. As a housewife in the Eighties, I subjected my husband and sons to Meagre Monday and Frugal Friday.

We ate well at weekends, with a home-made curry and a bottle of wine or even two on Saturday and a traditional roast dinner for the whole family on Sunday.

to prepare for the weekend over-indulgence, on Frugal Friday I served just a bowl of soup.

Meagre Monday was a jacket potato and any left-over meat from the Sunday roast.

I was trying to save money as well as calories, and it worked.

H. M. SiBBET, Caleta de Fuste, Fuerteventura.

Shut up, chatty pundits

I, too, dislike the constant chatter by so- called experts during football matches (Letters). So I turn on the broadcast just five minutes before kick-off when the teams are walking out.

At half-time, I make a cuppa and do any washing up before the second half starts.

that way I can miss all the blindingly obvious insights by the pundits. Having followed football all my life, I can form my own opinions. gRaHaM CaRR, Harrogate, n. yorks. I AGrEE the incessant chatter that passes as football match commentary is meaningless. I used to look forward to watching matches on tV, but now that I have to activate the mute button, a lot of the atmosphere is lost. g. RiCHaRDSOn, Doncaster, S. yorks.

Own goal

IN tHE good old days before the Champions and Europa Leagues, the uEFA system was much more exciting for fans.

the national champions of Europe played each other in a knock-out while the national cup winners took part in an equally exciting competition.

but greedy uEFA changed the format so they could add meaningless qualification rounds.

though the better teams still make it to the later rounds, they have played so many games that the quality has dropped.

Meanwhile, the poor old fan has coughed up a fortune to watch a lot of second-rate football.

DEniS SEXTOn, Warwick.

On the wrong track

I’VE just enjoyed a 220-mile train journey in two and a quarter hours where a seat was allocated with each ticket and the arrival and departure times were spot on. this was in France and cost £35.

A 120-mile journey from London to Nottingham took one hour and 50 minutes at a cost of £95.

this in a country that gave the world rail travel. MiKE MOllaRT, Mansfield, notts.