ES Views: The EU was never going to let us walk away easily

How could anyone believe the EU would ever agree to a deal to let the UK leave the union? To do that would open the floodgates for other countries to follow suit.

If the UK is serious about leaving the EU — a decision I agree with and believe is essential if we are to drag ourselves out of the mire we are in — we must be prepared to leave without a deal. The EU needs to realise what a mistake it made letting the UK leave.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, where all the individuals in Parliament care about is their own personal situation, we will never have strong enough leadership to fulfil the promising new dawn that Brexit should bring. This is the only reason Brexit will fail.

It is time to replace the game show that is currently UK politics and focus on electing a government that could achieve the Brexit this country really needs.

Sadly, none of the current party leaders is up to this fundamental role.
Graham Cornwell

Graham Baker [Letters, November 16] has overlooked the anomaly of undertaking “lengthy research into the EU’s protean, obscure and dubious development” and then voting for Brexit “to end dictatorial constraint by an unelected cabal”.

I can only assume his “lengthy research” was on a different subject matter, otherwise he would know that the EU electoral system is more democratic than the UK one. For the European Commission, read the UK civil service, augmented by the election of commissioners by the EU member states. For the elected European Parliament, read the elected House of Commons, with the European Council consisting of the democratically elected governments of the 28 EU member states.

If Mr Baker is so concerned with democracy, then perhaps his ire might have been better directed towards the UK’s unelected House of Lords and its deeply rooted system of patronage, and not towards a modern system that, despite its faults, has made our lives better.
David Baker

I cannot understand why your leader column raises the question of the UK remaining part of the single market and customs union [Comment, November 16].

It is quite clear that the EU will not permit the UK to remain within the single market unless we accept the free movement of people, align our regulatory regime with the EU’s, follow ECJ rulings and still make payments to the EU budget.

None of these is a possibility when the 17 million people who decided the outcome of the referendum voted against every one of these diktats.
Howard Ricklow

Now help brain tumour patients

We welcome the announcement about the new “breakthrough” breast cancer drugs approved and available on the NHS [ES online, November 16]. This is an example of how properly funded laboratory research and clinical testing can make a difference to patient outcomes. We hope it can be the same for brain tumours.

However, we are acutely aware that there are only 10 licensed cancer drugs available for brain tumour patients, compared with around 40 for breast cancer. Eight of these drugs have severe side-effects, leaving only Temozolomide and Avastin to treat the biggest cancer killer of people under the age of 40.

This paucity of treatments is unsurprising, given that just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours. Fewer than 20 per cent of patients survive beyond five years of their diagnosis, compared with 50 per cent of other cancers. The consequences of underfunding are horribly apparent.
Sue Farrington Smith, chief executive, Brain Tumour Research

Are tax avoidance and Brexit linked?

Following the publication of the Paradise Papers, the strong links between Brexit and tax avoidance through the use of tax havens has become increasingly apparent.

That may have mobilised wealthy tax-avoiders to push for Brexit. Two of the most vociferous newspaper supporters of Brexit have strong tax-haven links — one has connections to Bermuda, while the other has owners who live in a Channel Islands tax haven.

The billions lost through tax- avoidance — made legal by Tory governments dependent on wealthy donors — is one of the reasons behind the Government’s debt, which is in turn the excuse for austerity, slashing of public services and erosion of the NHS.

Tax-avoiders want to preserve their wealth at all costs, and Brexit enables them to avoid the crackdown by the EU. No wonder they are so loud and vicious in their attacks.
A P Milroy

Why is the Met out to close restaurant?

I was appalled to read about a lovely local restaurant, Caffe Mamma in Richmond, being fined thousands of pounds for having employed Fabio Nushi, who fled the Balkans war more than 20 years ago [November 16].

He is an excellent chef who, over the years, has taken the time to help my daughter, who has multiple, potentially life-threatening allergies.

To make matters worse, the Met Police also wanted to put many others out of work and destroy the Mendes’ family business by applying to revoke the restaurant’s licence. In whose interest is it to deport Mr Nushi?

Surely it is not an employer’s job to monitor migration, nor the Met’s to destroy people’s livelihoods.
Dr Annabel Cox

Baby massage has massive benefits

RE Ellen E Jones’s comment “I believe baby massage is for mugs” [Comment, November 16]: by “mugs” does she mean the multitude of mothers who do this worldwide?

Baby massage can relieve birth and early infant trauma, as well as limiting the effects of oxygen deprivation and early developmental delay brought about by conditions such as Prader-Willi syndrome and cerebral palsy.

It has huge benefits, which can last a child a lifetime.
Peter Walker

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Mayor is failing on climate promises

On Thursday, during the Mayor’s question time, we demanded he fulfil his climate promises. Where is the public energy company he promised? Why is City Hall still investing £70 million in fossil fuels?

Instead of an ambitious public energy company that can tackle fuel poverty and cut carbon emissions, the Mayor only plans to re-sell energy from another provider.

We still hope he will announce a clear pathway to a fully licensed public energy company, as well as divesting the London pension fund of fossil fuels.
Emma Hughes, Switched On London
Chelsea Edwards, Divest London

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