Can Britain ‘come together’ on Brexit? No, it can’t

This strife will run for generations no matter what happens. There is no possibility of reconciliation in sight. If any kind of Brexit happens there are already organisations springing up to reverse the process. If Brexit doesn’t happen then Ukip and its allies and fellow travellers will take to the streets again.

If Brexit happens and the sky falls in as predicted, then the retribution might be very grim indeed – prominent Brexiteers would never feel safe here, at least those who have not already emigrated with their money by that point.

If the sky doesn’t fall in, it will be because the UK has been beaten into a rights-free nightmare for those who have jobs and destitution for those who don’t. A Brexited Britain would be parading around the globe with its commercial trousers around its ankles and praying. Britain would be utterly vulnerable and desperate for deals; it would be a complete buyer’s market.

A test will be what happens to the EU. If it reforms and prospers more than the UK then we will have no choice but to rejoin – as a very poor relation. If the EU were to fail then the problems we’d experience in the UK would be nothing compared with the potential for the reignition of conflicts in Europe.

Promising a referendum and holding it have both done irreparable damage to the UK already and have not achieved the original objective of keeping the Tory party together.

Losing the referendum has done even more damage.

The “negotiations” have been a total farce and done more damage still. How much damage can a country take and still think this trajectory is a good one? The jobs and businesses that have gone and are going will never come back and foreign direct investment will decrease dramatically in foreseeable future – no matter what.

It’s the Tories who have wrecked Britain – again.

Steve Ford
Haydon Bridge

Breaking faith?

If having a people’s vote would be “breaking faith with the British people”, as Theresa May claims, what about her snap election in 2017?

She called it less than one year 11 months after the general election in 2015. It is now two years and six months after the referendum.

Perhaps her now saying a new vote would do “irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics” and would “likely leave us no further forward” is based on that experience?

Not every engagement leads inexorably to marriage, whatever is discovered along the way. So too, a first vote based on wild promises and incorrect information does not necessarily force Brexit on us.

Now that we know more about the actual costs of Brexit we deserve a people’s vote, don’t we?

That’s democracy.

Ian Gordon
Kettleshulme

Spare a thought for the carers this Christmas

Over the Christmas and new year period it is easy to forget those who won’t get a break to be with family and friends.

Carers, both paid and unpaid, join doctors, nurses and emergency services, in putting the safety and care of others ahead of their own festive enjoyment. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

And while we are busy with last-minute shopping and celebrations, we must not forget those who might not be able to enjoy a special Christmas this year.

Some, who have no family or friends living close by, might spend this time alone. Please look in on them – you might be the only contact they get.

As we look forward to 2019, I hope that social care will at last get better recognition and support, for the sake of those who work in the sector and those who benefit from their compassionate care.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Mike Padgham
Chair, Independent Care Group

Firing and rehiring Robert Mueller

Here’s a plan to make sure Donald Trump is not shielded from the long arm of justice by certain spineless senators.

If Trump fires Robert Mueller, why not have Adam Schiff hire the former special counsel to work for the House investigation he’s launching?

That way, Mueller would have bosses who want him to do his job. The House could subpoena Mueller’s records so that he doesn’t lose any vital evidence.

Mueller’s scope could be widened – for instance, he could demand Trump’s tax records and investigate accusations that Trump laundered huge sums of Russian money through Deutsche Bank.

It’s a simple solution and I hope someone who can make it happen has thought of it, or reads about it here.

Michael R Burch
Nashville

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Centrism is like a browned avocado

Browsing online at Urban Outfitters I was not surprised to see a picture of an avocado selling for £189.

The millennial-mania surrounding the historically undervalued fruit has given it an entire culture, following and identity. Why do I want to know this? Well the truth is we can link centrist politics to the avocado in many ways.

Imagine the first time someone took interest in the awe-inspiring object that is the avocado and look at its influence today.

Think back to the Nineties where the public celebrated a similar new interest and buzz around centrist politics, and remember New Labour’s 1997 landslide.

Imagine that avocado has been left on the surface of the Liberal Democrat staff canteen. The avocado has been out for too long, its luscious green has browned, its textured skin has softened and all that remains is the central pip of support. Any left-leaning centrists such as myself are thinking how can our politics be like the fresh avocado it was almost 25 years ago?

If you have a bite of avocado toast, you can only really taste the bead of bread, the topping is rather unambitious and bland.

The rise in populist politics has covered that toast in hot-chilli sauce, an exciting endeavour of which many want to try but the outcomes are rarely savoury.

The question we need to be asking ourselves is how can we give “bland” centrist policies the spice it needs to appeal to the many, like the “bland” but loved avocado appeals to the culture of today?

Sam Nicholson
Hertfordshire