The police must take action to tackle verbal abuse outside parliament

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Those who confronted Anna Soubrey should have been charged under the Public Order Act 1986 (PA)

I simply don’t understand the reticence of the Metropolitan Police in regard to the appalling treatment of Anna Soubry – among others – at the hands of the ghastly bullies in yellow jackets. Can I suggest that the police dust off their copy of the Public Order Act 1986 and they will find that shouting “Nazi” and “Scum” are words which are obviously insulting and likely to cause distress and therefore fall well into the gambit of section five of the act. Although non-imprisonable, the police could arrest at the scene to avoid a breach of the peace and then charge or summons for the public order offence.

The by-product of this tactic would be that, almost inevitably, the bullies would use force to avoid arrest and that would amount to assaulting or obstructing a police constable, both of which are imprisonable offences. The courts could then consider restraining orders preventing the yobs from going within a certain distance of the Houses of Parliament and also specifically prevent them from approaching named MPs and other public figures who have been the subject of the abuse.

Tim Devas
Oakham

‘Brexit: The Uncivil War’ revelations

Enjoyed (is that the right word?) Brexit: The Uncivil War on Channel 4, but good God, it’s a depressing tale of the utter tossers that are our political class in this country and the broken democratic state we have.

I was unsure why people who live in the most deprived areas of the UK would vote Leave, probably making their lives worse, and that was answered. When you’ve lost everything, and been utterly failed by the political establishment, you want to give the politicians a kicking, and how better than with Vote Leave?

The Leavers have built up the idea that the EU is the reason for all their woes and sadly it was swallowed by people who had nothing left to lose. Those people were failed by both the Remain and Leave campaigns, damning deprived areas to more hardship for a long time to come, while the architects of Brexit have moved their trust funds overseas and have no worries about being on the breadline.

Politics in the UK is utterly broken – the two-party system, the confrontational face to face of the Houses of Parliament, the dreadful procedure system that puts all the power in the ruling party’s hands. And worst of all, the complete lack of transparency as to how decisions are made and where fault lies when things don’t work.

If democracy in the UK is to have a hope of repair, and the community that is the UK, then the next few weeks have to see a complete sea change. The MPs have to throw out May’s dreadful deal, banish the no-deal option, and then work together to find some way out of this gigantic pile of s*** that Cameron and the Tory party created. That may be some form of Brexit, it may not be, but we watch and wait with very little hope.

Jason Borthwick
North Norfolk

Hands-free luggage

A recent technology conference, CES 2018, demonstrated many of the toys and tools we may be using in a few years although one was of particular interest – hands-free luggage. They use a smartphone app to follow their owner. This initially sounds like a useful device although the constant fear of hacking presents some concerning possibilities.

It could be a fun afternoon at the airport taking over the signals and doing some choreography with a number of suitcases or maybe a game of hide and seek as they disappear to the dark corners of the airport. A lost signal and it becomes lost luggage, which is not a unique experience at the airport. There is also something for the speed demons as they determine which brand has the highest speed. I, however would just get a dozen or so and combine them to form a “magic carpet” to take me to the boarding gates. There are many other possibilities including I am sure some malicious ones.

A new idea that needs some further development before I use one or play with someone else’s.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

Post-Brexit connectivity for Belfast is key

Infrastructural expansion is a vital ingredient of post-Brexit competitiveness to encourage the inward investors to invest in the UK and expand operations.

This should include a fixed link between Belfast and Galloway to fully interconnect the United Kingdom. Freight and passengers could board trains at Belfast direct to the likes of Glasgow, Newcastle, London – and indeed continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel. The strategic importance of Belfast port would also be enhanced in terms of all-UK purposes.

John Barstow
Pulborough

Little England?

There is talk now of a possible Little England inhabited by gung-ho Brexiteers. I suggest they be confined to the old kingdom of Wessex. I don’t personally want them having any influence over Mercia where I live.

Nicola Sturgeon is doing the right thing, I think. Parliament is self-centred in London and, apparently, give very little thought to the rest of the country. So, the only thing the rest of the country can do is separate itself from parliament and do their own thing.

London has been separated from the rest of the country now for some time. Ever since the government ignored the ridiculous inflation of property prices there. £350,000 for a bedsit in Herne Hill! You are ’avin a serious larf wiv me there, friend. Do I look like an idiot!?

I used to live in London. If I wanted to live there now I would have to accept a serious drop in my living standards. Why would I want to do that? London is great, but not THAT great.

Not ideal, I know, splitting the country up like this, but it is something which must now be considered given the hopeless intransigence of this current government and the fact that the parliamentary system, in its current form, is failing miserably to deliver a true democracy to the good citizens of this country.

Chris Bonfield
Address supplied

Grayling Goes Forth

I think Chris Grayling had in mind the episode of Blackadder Goes Forth in which General Melchett orders his men to charge a line of dummies in German uniforms in Hyde Park on 4 August 1914. It was excellent preparation for the real thing, and justified the views of those who said it would be over by Christmas, as it was.

Written from the Front Line.

Leon Williams
Dover

Remainer hypocrisy

Has anyone else noticed the irony of Remain MPs trying to prevent multiple parliamentary votes on the prime minister’s deal until she gets the result she wants, when this is exactly what they want to do with the referendum on membership of the EU?

Alan Brown
Bromborough