French trade tactics reprised to punish Britain

sir – The EU’S stranglehold on Northern Ireland (Letters, May 17) reminds me of France’s efforts in 1982 to protect its VCR manufacturers from Japanese goods. It had just one facility processing the Japanese imports, manned by only two officers.

The EU is pulling a similar stunt in Northern Ireland, requiring hundreds of pages of paperwork. It’s punishment for Brexit – electronic documentation would solve the delays at a stroke.

Don Edwards

Lawford, Essex

sir – In 2016, in the countdown to the referendum, I gave a lot of thought to the pros and cons of leaving the EU. To clear my head, I listed all the topics I felt needed to be considered, taking account of facts and figures from various sources, together with the views of people I trusted.

At the end of several weeks and three closely typed pages of A4, which confirmed my original voting intention, the subject of the Irish border briefly entered my mind for the first time. I had to admit that this tricky problem was beyond me, but I confidently assumed that someone cleverer than me must surely have the answer. How wrong can you be? Judith M Tanner

Porthcawl, Glamorgan

sir – Since at least 2014, when David Cameron failed to obtain a few miserable concessions that might have kept Britain in Europe, the EU has consistently shown myopic intransigence.

That anyone should expect it to change now is beyond belief. The only solution is to invoke Article 16 and let the bloc take the consequences. David T Price

Banbury, Oxfordshire