Sir, – Boris Johnson and his Cabinet of Brexit ghouls are now propagandising about an “Australian-style deal”.
This in reality is a hard Brexit. They have simply rebranded it.
What this means will be mass suffering for the population.
There will be shortages of vital medicines. This is the conclusion of the UK Government’s own Yellowhammer impact papers. This is not speculative or fearmongering.
The same papers also showed that food supplies will be affected, with prices rising that will disproportionately impact those on the lowest income. Again these are facts based on the UK Government’s own forecasts. Not rosy propaganda.
Permission will be required to take lorries from the UK into Europe.
In the event of a no-deal scenario the UK would be limited to just 3,000 trucks per day.
In the event of no deal then WTO rules apply.
The WTO has 10% tariffs for cars being sent abroad.
As the UK is part of the EU, it is currently zero.
On shoes and clothes, the tariffs are 12%. Under the EU it is zero.
On beef, WTO tariffs in some areas are 90%. This alone will decimate the agricultural sector.
The problem is Boris Johnson. This incompetent is good only for amusement.
Alan Hinnrichs.
Gillespie Terrace,
Dundee.
Break the shackles even without a deal
Sir, – Unquestionably Brussels has both a disdain and a fear of Britain, a position that has been displayed throughout the so-called Brexit negotiations.
The disdain is alike to a parent who witnesses a child disobeying an order and seeks to impose punishments against their viewed misdemeanour.
The fear element is contained in the fact that if Britain is allowed unfettered sovereignty then we might steal a march in establishing trade deals with other nations to the perceived detriment of the EU bloc.
These are the principal reasons why the negotiations have been protracted and continually stymied into deadlock.
To the mix can be added the matter of our fishing waters and the realisation that foreign fishermen, particularly the French, would no longer be at liberty to pillage our waters at will.
President Emmanuel Macron, whose popularity appears to be on the wane, would have to face up to his fishermen as a result.
The price of national trading freedom beckons and we must fearlessly pursue the goal voted by the people to take this back and completely break the shackles of this EU, with or without a deal, once and for all.
David L Thomson.
Laurence Park,
Kinglassie,
Fife.
Do the ends really justify the means?
Sir, – Having read Jim Crumley’s excellent article concerning the ongoing ‘glenocide’ inflicted on our nation’s wildlife, I knew it would be a matter of days before our bloodsport athletes came out of their hides with all guns blazing.
They justify our wildlife extermination with a fusillade of stats and figures.
Quite simply, if it makes money then it’s jolly good.
By the same token, certain inner city activities must equally be encouraged.
Drug dealing, mugging and burglary come to mind.
Duncan Leith.
Elie,
Fife.
True heroes of Piper Alpha disaster
Sir, – I found Neil Drysdale’s article headed “We all went into Dante’s Inferno, some of us didn’t return” (Courier, December 9) very moving. A friend of my dad’s jumped off the Piper Alpha in the 1988 disaster.
He was rescued and survived. I don’t remember the man’s name and unfortunately my dad – Jim Grubb – is no longer around to ask, but it would be lovely to think that his friend was rescued by Charles Haffey or one of his colleagues in their converted fishing trawler.
True heroes.
Fiona Milne.
Wood Road,
Birkhill.
