Brexit mayhem is in full swing

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Philip Hammond has been embroiled in Brexit arguments this week (PA)

The media on 13 October were reporting what can only be described as Brexit mayhem. The Chancellor has been called by two fellow Tory members a saboteur and a traitor, presumably because he is seen as a weak Brexiteer and he voted like Theresa May for Remain. Strong language indeed.

Not to be outshone in the ratings of invective-hurling, Philip Hammond revealed his real true inner self when he thundered in the US against Tory infighting by claiming he is “all signed up to Brexit” – and, to underscore this, he referred to the EU as the “enemy”, since it presumably is not giving in to UK demands for bespoke treatment. Such an outburst is unlikely to win friends among the EU27. He later retracted his outburst on Twitter, but no doubt the damage is done.

Adding to the insults, Tory Brexiteers have said that Theresa May should not grant any more concessions to the EU over financial commitments as this would only “feed the monster” and the UK Government should simply walk away.

Finally, in The Independent, Sir Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador to Germany, stated that the UK, which is exiting the EU and which is in effect a de facto third country, “should not have let the EU be judge and jury over Brexit”. One has the feeling that Sir Christopher is diplomatically way off piste with that skewed insight. He would surely not be assuming the exiting UK itself should be the final arbiter? He also seems to be in another universe when he postulates that in the end it will come down to a cosy “beer-and-sandwiches” style meeting between May, Merkel and Macron, tête à tête, or Kopf zu Kopf, which will come to an agreement side lining the remaining 25 EU countries, the European Commission and the EU Parliament.

Apart from the fantasy behind his thinking, Theresa May may not survive long in No 10. He seems to forget the UK voted to leave the EU in bad grace and in its wake haughtily claimed it could have its cake and eat it and bedazzle the EU negotiators with a form of calculated ambiguity.

It does not auger well when the Chancellor, supposedly a pro-EU person, suddenly lashes out and calls the EU the enemy. The UK used to boast about “splendid isolation” from European affairs. Well, that is now becoming a reality.

John Edgar
Stewarton

There’s little difference between Trump and Kim Jong-un

Saturday morning coffee and I am reading the papers as usual. I see a photo of the President and all of his sycophantic supporters applauding as though he had discovered a cure for cancer. When I put my glasses on to read the detail I see it’s President Trump rather than the usual President Kim Jong-un. Is there that great a similarity, both are more theatrical than presidential, both seem to make grand statements and, worryingly, both seem to want to start a nuclear war.

The blindness in people may be those that follow them so willingly and the few that are willing to speak up. We need that “light on the hill” to be relit and to lead us out of this political swamp.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

Scottish businesses do not want another independence referendum

This week’s SNP conference has again served to highlight that there remains a strong desire within the ranks of the party to continue with its headlong charge towards independence. As we all know the campaign for independence was roundly rejected by the Scottish people in 2014 and further calls for another referendum will prove disastrous for those of us working to bring jobs and investment here.

Angus Robertson’s pronouncements that there will be another independence referendum soon coupled with Mhairi Black lambasting fellow nationalists who want to put independence on the back burner serve to highlight that the nationalist cause remains a grave threat to economic stability in Scotland.

With support from hundreds of businesses across Scotland and an advisory board made up of individuals with a strong track record of creating jobs and attracting investment, Scottish Business UK is sending a clear signal that business in Scotland does not welcome the additional uncertainty created by this rush toward another referendum on Scottish independence, which risks dividing our country and damaging our economy at the worst possible time.

Robert Kilgour, Struan Stevenson and Jack Perry, Scottish Business UK

The Brexit enemy lies within

Commenting on the Brexit negotiations the Chancellor Philip Hammond has described the EU as “the enemy”. For his information I agree with the great German socialist Karl Liebknecht when he insisted: “The main enemy is always at home.”’

Mr Hammond – you and the rest of your Tory rabble are my enemy!

Sasha Simic
Hackney

The Government must do more to tackle injustices

The Government should dig deeper into the repercussions of universal credit cuts and sanctions on society at large and make giant strides to show ordinary citizens that they remain invaluable stakeholders in the big society that the Government professes to champion.

This is a slippery and multifaceted concept which encompasses a multitude of dimensions from economic exclusion, social and cultural marginalisation to discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, age, culture and faith. People of overseas descent, refugees, asylum seekers and the sick often lack language skills to explain themselves and are the hardest hit by this compounded by the fact that institutional racism is well entrenched in every sector in the UK. The Government must leave no stone unturned in its endeavour to make real changes to peoples’ lives and end all forms of racial and ethnic discrimination.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London NW2

What did people do before petrol and diesel vehicles?

Julien Gall’s letter on the subject of Oxford banning diesel and petrol vehicles from the city centre raised a question in my mind.

What did students do before the days of park and ride and the luxury of a car each for their load of stuff?

I’d be interested to know from a veteran of the olden days how they managed to get to their college and what they took with them.

Jennifer Bell
Tiverton