LETTERS: EUROPE SPECIAL
Our country needs change
As it now appears obvious that he never really wanted a referendum, and with Brexit now looking more and more likely, it seems the Prime Minister may have bitten off far more than he can chew.
It looks as if the great British public have finally had enough, are rebelling and may be about to show our elected representatives that it’s time to listen to them, and after June 23 to get on with the job they’re paid to do.
Unfortunately, regardless of the result, there will be so much ill feeling that Westminster will perhaps understand the problems faced in scotland that won’t go away despite a clear democratic win for No in our referendum of september 2014.
With the Remain support also plummeting north of the Border, the threat by our First Minister that a Brexit vote could trigger a further independence referendum is now looking no more than the hot air normally spouted by her party faithful.
Even she must realise that the last thing our country needs is more of the same, so Nicola, it’s time for you to take it on board, and accept that regardless of the final outcome, enough is enough. ALLAN MILLER, Kirkintilloch,
Dunbartonshire.
Doomed to austerity
IF THE country votes to Remain, David Cameron and his cronies will be celebrating, but austerity will still be depriving public services of funding, while billions are being spent on foreign aid. Our children will be leaving school and university with no hope of a future in the country of their birth and our border controls will still be an absolute farce.
MRS M. CRIBB, Emsworth, Hants.
Keeping the peace
THE EU has helped keep peace among its constituent countries for decades while simultaneously holding back the threat of Russia. so I’m voting Remain.
JAMES RALSTON, Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Dangerous gamble
THIs Brexit lot are as bad as the sNP – its figures are unbelievable. Voting out is a dangerous gamble.
F. HENRY, Falkirk, Stirlingshire.
You give, you lose
IF YOU give me two-thirds of your wages, would you be happy if I then gave you back a portion to spend on food and an allowance to spend on health and your children’s schooling?
Then, keeping what’s left over for myself as commission for arranging all this, I would dictate the shape of your fruit, the sort of light bulbs you could use and the neighbours you’d have.
YVONNE WILL, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.
Lost sovereignty
I CAN’T wait to cast my vote to leave the EU. I am part of a groundswell of anger that is running through this country at the way governments have allowed our sovereignty to be eroded. I can hardly wait to see us regain control of this wonderful country. As for the undecided who keep bleating ‘We want facts’, well, here’s the truth: there are none. Only forecasts, but I know good old British stoicism, entrepreneurship and positive thinking will once again make this country great.
ALAN KING, Deal, Kent.
Shop around
MANY large companies are attempting to coerce their workforce to vote Remain. The chairman of John Lewis has told his employees a Leave vote would mean prices would increase and retail spending would be affected, which could threaten jobs.
I am puzzled by this as most of the goods I see in that store originate from China, not the EU.
BARRY CHANNING, Cardiff.
Better together
REMAIN can still win, but only if it pushes its core emotional argument: that we are better together. This is the reason the UK should actively be in the EU, not passively remain in it.
The Leave campaign, like Donald Trump, has successfully appealed to base emotions around independence and rejecting outside control. The EU is a highly successful exercise in power-sharing. All relationships require compromise and a commitment to improve and resolve matters.
NICK COX, London SW15.
Recession worries
MANY politicians, economists, business leaders, heads of financial services and trades union leaders are warning of an economic disaster should Britain vote to leave the EU.
Hang on! Aren’t these the same ‘experts’ that failed spectacularly to predict the worldwide banking meltdown and recession?
DICK BOOKER, St Albans, Herts.
EU albatross
THE leaders of the Remain campaign have made it their policy to create alarm about leaving the EU.
One of the scare stories has been to predict a fall in the stock market and to imply that such an event would adversely affect pensions and house prices. Well, markets go up and down regularly the world over and our own stock and property market prices are historically high. Property is reported as at a 6.5 price to income ratio, whereas it was only 5.5 at the last correction in 2008. Even so, I wonder how many UK citizens are aware that a far greater threat already exists.
In the Us the stock market, commercial property and the bond market are all considered to be dangerously overvalued by many savvy observers, and this against a backdrop of a slowing economy.
Internationally known billionaire investors, such as those who bet against sterling remaining in the ERM in the 1990s, against the dotcom boom in 2000 and the property bubble leading up to the 2007-08 crash, are reportedly both withdrawing their money and betting on a major correction. If such a correction occurs, it will
affect both the UK and the EU to a far greater extent than is likely with Brexit, especially the eurozone, which is already considered to be in a serious economic condition.
We would cope better if we were not tied to the EU albatross. Ray Sims, Livingston, West Lothian.
Loco express
‘ALL aboard,’ said the guard as the European Federal Express rolled in. ‘Chance of a lifetime! It will prevent a decade of uncertainty and be a great deal for all (especially me).’
‘Great,’ said a passenger. ‘Will we all be better off?’
‘Of course,’ replied the guard. ‘I’ve instructed a few friends to prepare figures that prove it.’
‘So where are we going?’ asked the passenger. ‘How long before we arrive and start to benefit?’
‘That’s a bit tricky,’ replied the guard. ‘There could be delays. It depends what people in Brussels want. But don’t worry, trust me!’
‘Oh, but at least you can tell us all about the initial objectives, say those in the first year,’ said the passenger.
‘There must be a masterplan so we can see what the objectives are for the next 20 to 30 years and their timetable for implementation.’
‘Well, I’ve not seen one,’ the guard replied.
He’s too far down the management chain for the Fat Controller to keep him informed.
‘If you can’t answer simple questions like that I’m not sure that I want to board the train,’ said the passenger.
‘You can’t give any information about the journey or destination. Getting on board could be a disaster.’
There is no reply — the guard has moved on to sell tickets to a more gullible passenger. D. B. SMITH, Old Coulsdon, Surrey.
Wasted windfall
THOSE people who think cash saved by leaving Europe will be spent on the NHS and schools, as promised by Brexiteers, need only look to the North Sea oil windfall. Where is the social housing, hospitals and schools built with this money or even a sovereign wealth fund for future pensions, as in Norway? JOHN COULSDON, Bookham, Surrey.