Brexit fantasies are now being superseded by unpalatable Brexit reality and reality bites hard. The UK government has again been forced to postpone plans to “take back control of our borders” because they simply don’t work. Two years into Brexit and the UK still has no customs regime in place for EU food imports.
Jacob Rees-Mogg arrogantly and erroneously claimed that Brexit would reduce food costs by 20 per cent. However, it has become clear that – because the UK no longer recognises EU safety standards – red tape bureaucracy has actually increased food prices and significantly contributed to the inordinately high UK inflation figures. Sunak’s government is close to conceding that their hard-Brexit vision is fundamentally unworkable. All they can do is to mask their chronic incompetence by continually kicking the proverbial can (customs deadline) down the road. The lack of a customs regime is a potential public health risk. The UK is currently not checking anything that comes into the country from the EU. We also have the Windsor Framework fiasco. So much for “taking back control”.
Mr Rees-Mogg will argue that the answer to this problem is to purchase cheaper food products from outside the EU. But this food is produced to significantly lower animal hygiene and welfare standards. US agriculture is based on industrial scale intensive farming. Carcasses are routinely sprayed with chlorine to avoid food poisoning. The substantially higher levels of food poisoning in the US than in Europe bear testimony to the poor sanitation in US farming. Do consumers really want this cheaper, contaminated and potentially toxic food? And, given the above health risks, these ‘cheap’ imports would generate additional customs checks and consequently costs.
None of this would have happened if the UK had accepted the EU’s safety standards. It’s time for the government – and the opposition – to accept that the UK needs to find a new way forward. Realignment with EU standards seems the obvious solution. This arrangement would facilitate the import of higher quality food products from Europe at a reasonable price. Its a win,
win situation.
Polls show that Brexit regret is at an all-time high. They cannot be ignored. The public is allowed to change its mind – especially when it is clear that this hard Brexit is eroding the social, economic and political fabric of Britain. It may not be possible to rejoin the EU immediately. But the UK must escape from its democratic dystopia where both major parties seem trapped in a pernicious Brexit cul-de-sac.
GEORGE WORKMAN
Donabate, Dublin
Risk of nuclear war is all too real
Writing in the weekend edition (July 29) Jake O’Kane expresses his view that “Thankfully nuclear war is now much less likely.” Really? Is he that complacent?
Mr O’Kane expressed his view following the release of three-hour long film Oppenheimer which depicts the life and times of the ‘father of the bomb’. It would appear that the three-hour timeline is too much for Mr O’Kane given he has sustained a ‘back injury’. However, a back injury is no excuse for burying your head in the proverbial sand about the threat of a nuclear war that would wipe out humankind.
After the end of the Cold War, we all thought that the threat of a nuclear war had diminished. The Soviet Union had disintegrated along with its East European allies. Walls were tumbling down, the world had become a safe place, complacency took root. Yet, our world is more volatile today than it ever was during the Cold War period. More countries now have access to nuclear weapons. Populism and the rise of the far right has threatened long established political alliances across Europe.
The menacing shadow of Trump hovers over the pending presidential elections in America. In the here and now, Putin has threatened to deploy ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine. North Korea is regularly threatening to use its nukes against the US and its new neighbour, South Korea.
The relationship between India and Pakistan remains unpredictable amid threats of war. Both have the bomb. The risk of nuclear war is all too real. I would urge Mr O’Kane to go see Oppenheimer.
The film will challenge his complacency that a nuclear war is ‘now much less likely’.
PAT ARMSTRONG
Derry City
MLAs should feel ashamed
The theatrics of Nadine Dorries holding on to her Westminster seat without effectively representing her constituents has instilled a sense of outrage across the Westminster Parliamentary divide. It has prompted Labour’s Chris Bryant to call for a motion that would see her lose her seat if she didn’t attend parliament for six months. However, this is unlikely to happen because it is shortsighted from the point of view that such a motion would automatically deprive Sinn Féin MP’s from their seats and so is unlikely to get the backing of the house. Chris wants MPs to be held to the same account as councillors who automatically lose their seats if they don’t attend council meetings for six months.
“Why should you be allowed to draw a salary and claim expenses for your staff if elected representatives don’t represent the interests of their constituents?”
he asks.
Chris wants to come and live over here for a while where the salary for MLAs tends to be paid for longer periods of non-attendance at the assembly than for attendance Do these MLAs feel ashamed? The answer is an unequivocal no. They will tell you that they still represent their constituents even though the assembly is not sitting. They have not passed one legislative item during the present mandate but if they ever return you can expect that one of the first things they will accept will be a salary increase for themselves. That’s how ashamed they are.
SEÁN O FIACH
Belfast BT11
British Empire brought great benefit to Ireland
Brian Feeney – ‘Starmer wrong on h is support for Union’ (August 9) – like many people today has a very negative view of the British empire and British rule in Ireland.
Before 1916 there was a lot of support for British rule even among Irish Catholics. The people of Hong Kong supported the British Empire and did not want to leave. Many other colonies embraced British rule. It is only in hindsight that they are judging it to be wrong. The British Empire is like the motor car, a great benefit to millions but a pessimist would say the car is bad because people die in crashes. The British Empire brought great benefit to Ireland – our canals, our railways, all the beautiful Georgian and Victorian squares and buildings in almost every town in Ireland.
It brought us the English language, our Parliament, our Civil Service, our legal system and our democracy.
The empire brought improved prosperity to the colonies, it brought enlightenment, Christianity, the rule of law, improved health care, education, better business practices, plus the abolition of slavery and barbaric native practices, human sacrifice, purdah, and mutilation of women.
JOHN F HYLAND
Killiney, Co Dublin
