I'm fed up of royal weddings – let's focus on the real issues facing this country instead

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

It’s ridiculous – someone from the privileged classes is getting married so let’s all smile as we watch people wandering in front of the cameras at Nottingham Cottage for their two seconds of fame (AP)

Oh gawd, a prince is marrying an American actress of – gasp – mixed ethnicity, who is also a feminist, and it’s become news of the day. Months of blanket coverage ensue.

Brexit is being mishandled by a bunch of politicians who haven’t got a clue about, or skill in, negotiation. There have been sexual harassment allegations in the House of Commons. There’s still ongoing conflict between Trump and North Korea.

This Government continues to develop cruel policies, especially against the disabled, the mentally ill and the unemployed. Jeremy Hunt has shown recently just how much the Government lies about these issues. Why do some people believe it?

And on top of all this, hundreds of children will see another harsh winter in Syria. But hey, someone from the privileged classes is getting married so let’s all smile as we watch people wandering in front of the cameras at Nottingham Cottage for their two seconds of fame. Let’s listen to Nicholas Witchell’s reverential tone and at least have some grudging admiration for Harry actually having been in the armed forces properly and earning his medals, unlike his father.

Terry Maunder
Kirkstall

Where’s the £2m to tackle child poverty?

It is saddening to see child poverty still existing in the UK in the 21st century. There are currently 3.7 million children living in poverty in the UK. That’s over a quarter of all children. 1.7 million of these children are living in severe poverty. In the UK 63 per cent of children living in poverty are in a family where someone works.

Poverty affects one in four children in the UK today. When kids grow up poor they miss out – and so do the rest of us. They miss out on the things most children take for granted: warm clothes, school trips, having friends over for tea. They do less well at school and earn less as adults. Any family can fall on hard times and find it difficult to make ends meet. But poverty isn’t inevitable. With the right policies every child can have the opportunity to do well in life, and we all share the rewards of having a stronger economy and a healthier, fairer society.

The UK is the sixth largest economy in the world and a regular contributor of foreign aid to other countries, yet in its own backyard poverty is rampant. Furthermore the UK has no control over how that money is spent by the recipient countries.

This situation is untenable and has to be fixed first, before UK taxpayers’ money is diverted elsewhere. We must first put our house in order before fixing others.

It is time for the Government to tap the magic money tree to release funds for alleviating child poverty in the UK. It is a crying shame that developed countries have child poverty in their midst in this day and age. Yet they have billions to spend in fighting wars in foreign countries that are no threat to them.

Campbell Robb, the chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “These troubling figures are warning signs we could be at the beginning of a sharp rise in poverty, with forecasts suggesting child poverty could rise further by 2021.”

Poverty in the UK is jeopardising children’s health, lowers living standards and promotes inequality. And child poverty will only increase due to benefit cuts and austerity policies.

Baldev Sharma
Harrow

A delicate border

If it wants to maintain the common travel area between the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Irish government should tread carefully, because it treads on our dreams when it threatens to derail the Brexit talks.

Dora Henry
Stratford-upon-Avon

Brexiteers believe the Irish land border needs no physical barrier, their solution to the movement of goods being electronic tagging and automatic number plate recognition. The Democratic Unionist Party rejects the Irish Sea as the de facto border. Yet, a major reason for the Leave vote of Brexiteers was what they claimed to be uncontrolled and uncontrollable immigration.

Brexiteers and the DUP need now to explain to we Remainers how they propose to prevent the mass immigration to the UK that so concerned them in the absence of border control on the island of Ireland. Without a workable solution, Brexit will not only have rifted the British nation irrevocably, it will have failed to achieve one of the primary goals of the Brexiteers.

Ian Reid
Kilnwick

Targeting tax avoidance

Tax avoidance is legal. The only way to reduce it is to go after the people who come up with these very clever tax avoidance schemes. The Government ought to make it a criminal offence for anyone to encourage someone resident in the UK to use offshore operations whose main purpose is to reduce the UK tax burden. It would be a very brave adviser who would risk going to prison for recommending the sort of schemes uncovered in the Paradise Papers.

Philip Pound
London SE26

The patriotism of Prince Harry

It is an outstanding example of patriotism that Prince Harry is prepared to marry Meghan Markle to get us a better Brexit deal.

John Riseley
Harrogate