Letters - Thursday, February 3, 2022

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP raised the issue of the 27 per cent increase in the cost of sending goods from the British mainland to Northern Ireland.

The cause is the existence of the Irish Sea border that is part of the Northern Ireland Protocol. That border is in place because Northern Ireland remains within the EU customs union.

Putting a border in the sea was Johnson’s solution of how to dispense with May’s ‘Backstop’ arrangement. Now the paperwork and other impediments required by the sea border have caused 200 firms to cease supplying Northern Ireland.

Johnson was quick to respond that he “supported passionately” Donaldson’s request that the Protocol and sea border be done away with. Since it was the Prime Minister who ‘fathered’ the sea border solution, Johnson’s comments strike me as rich.

Our PM next sought to lay all blame on the EU for something he had agreed as part of his “oven ready deal”. At one point he began a sentence with the fatal words “I never thought...”.

That’s the trouble in a nutshell, Boris. You never think ahead of possible consequences.

John Cole

via email

POLITICS

Protecting their own positions

Wait for the covid enquiry, wait for the Sue Gray inquiry, wait for the police inquiry. How much longer do the citizens of this country have to put up with all this evasion and lies from this buffoon of a man we call the prime minister?

With regards to his statement to parliament on Tuesday he started off full of contrition and apologies and when the questions put to him started to hit home hey-presto he goes off on a rant and completely loses the plot and his mask of so called contrition disappears.

The majority of his back-benchers apart from three couldn’t be bothered to ask a critical question of him and one Lancashire MP got up and mumbled something about Russians which i couldn’t quite grasp

His front bench obviously do not want him to resign because a new broom coming in will probably want to sweep clean and some of the old guard will be consigned to the back benches and that is the main reason why they constantly come on the airwaves to defend the indefensible to protect their own jobs .

M.Tipper

Lancashire

VIRUS

Supermarket mask request

I find it really interesting that my local supermarket, which never insisted on face mask wearing, has suddenly started to ask people to wear one now that this requirement has been removed.

It seems that advice from the Government always leads to mixed messaging or maybe deliberate awkwardness.

Hilary Andrews

via email

INDUSTRY

The high cost of UK’s gambling

Bet365 owner Denise Coates is apparently the UK’s biggest tax payer and paid over £480m in tax last year.

It is a sad reflection on the UK when the biggest tax payer is not running a business which creates or adds any value to society, but is part of an industry which can take advantage of vulnerable individuals and brings misery to thousands of families...

Phil Cray

Scorton

POLITICS

Tory arrogance over ‘Partygate’

I watched the Newswatch programme and, once again, I heard Conservative supporters telling the world that we have heard of ‘ Partygate.’

I would ask two questions:

1. If it was a Labour PM breaking Labour laws, would the complaints be as vociferous? I think not!

2. What gives these people the right to think that they speak for me or anyone else?

Typical Conservative arrogance.

It reminds me of the old mantra ‘You only vote Labour because your parents do’, which supposes that Labour supporters are incapable of making up their minds about what is right for the country and follow like sheep.

Again Tory arrogance!

Name and address

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