Letters - Saturday February 20, 2021

The majority of professional musicians and creatives did not vote for Brexit.

Without frictionless travel around Europe, these high standard UK musicians will suffer the most.

Touring production companies, promoters and agents face a raft of complications and additional costs when the creative industry is eventually allowed to work again.

Many young bands are forced to gain valuable experience by touring on near break even expenses.

Making gig tours purposely unviable will see a massive drop in opportunities for British bands playing in Europe.

It is a very sad state of affairs when you have super rich eccentric characters like Jacob Rees-Mogg, who, in his cavalier manner, defends Brexit without any conscience, whatsoever.

Yet in reality, since January, the UK fishing, farming and manufacturing industries have been losing fortunes in logistical delays, wastage and cancelled orders. The strong supporters of Brexit might refer to these initial difficulties as a few ‘teething problems’.

I think the pain for these businesses is more like the thought of experiencing root canal surgery without an anaesthetic.

Stephen Pierre

Unity Music

Arts Team

Second world war

Far from using outdated sources

I appreciate that you will not wish to publish a series of ‘to & fro’ arguments on this subject, but as Dr Clayton has accused me of using ‘outdated secondary sources’ whilst not actually presenting any evidence to support his own (Your Say, February 15), I hope you allow me to correct him, especially since he has now had two bites of the cherry!

My main source is ‘Invasion of England 1940’ by the German historian Peter Schenck, who based his book on extensive research in the German Military Archives at Freiburg.

The quotations I provided are translations of a series of orders and directives issued by Hitler to his staff in 1940. I respectfully submit that these, Hitler’s own words, are far from ‘outdated secondary sources.’

Indeed, Schenck’s book is the most authoritative in existence on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the German invasion plan, from the German point of view.

My own book on the subject, ‘Hitler’s Armada,’ used Schenck’s work as an invaluable source, although I did indeed spend some time ‘trawling’ through both the British and German archives myself.

Perhaps Dr Clayton would care to enlighten us all by providing details of his own sources, instead of simply stating that he is correct?

Certainly, Hitler’s ultimate and primary enemy was indeed the Soviet Union, but that fact alone does not justify the allegation that the concentration of shipping, aircraft, and troops on the French coast in the latter half of 1940 was merely a colossal bluff.

Geoff Hewitt

address supplied

Second world war

Questions about Hitler’s ‘bluff’

Having survived two bombings during the Second World War whilst living in Manchester, albeit contracting rickets and bronchitis owing to the resultant conditions, I find Dr Barry Clayton’s views (Your Say, February 15) rather strange and possibly even quite offensive.

He claims to have trawled the German archives but he cannot be the only one who has, so why is this the first time I have heard that Hitler never had any intention of invading?

Why did Hitler bother occupying the Channel Islands?

Why did he see it necessary to blitz London night after night?

Why did he flatten Coventry?

Why did he throw away so many lives of his airmen fighting the Battle of Britain when they could have been so valuable against the Soviets?

Indeed, how many of his “highly influential supporters” here did he risk wiping out with his bombardment?

I admit I have never seen the German archives, but all that activity seems to be quite some bluff and I can’t accept it.

Tony Ingham

address supplied

Education

Common sense

To date, Gavin Williamson has shown himself to be a poor Secretary for Education, but his intention to introduce common sense regarding ‘freedom of speech’ at universities is to be welcomed.

‘Wokeism’ within academia has already gained an unhealthy foothold.

Its force of influence needs to be radically checked.

If Williamson is successful, he will have done the nation a great service.

Peter Rickaby

via email