Madam, – A car bomb in January; rioting in the streets last Thursday, with more than 70 petrol bombs thrown, police vehicles in flames, a journalist shot dead.
All this in Derry, a UK city much smaller than Dundee.
Is this what Brexit is taking us back to?
Northern Ireland has been relatively peaceful since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 ended the hard border between north and south.
Yet the UK Government, throughout the Brexit negotiations, has tried desperately to get acceptance for a hard border, contrary to the Good Friday Agreement, to satisfy “the will of the people” of England and Wales.
Northern Ireland did not vote for this.
The obstacle to the Westminster plan is that the European Union, supporting the Irish Government, refuse to accept any Brexit deal which would lead to a hard border in Ireland.
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, which is highly likely given the extraordinary self interest, and incompetence, of both the Conservative Government, and the Labour (in name only) opposition, then a hard border there will probably have to be.
The ruination of the UK would be a sad outcome of Brexit, but bringing The Troubles back to Northern Ireland would be a tragedy.
Les Mackay,
5 Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.
Bring back National Service
Madam, – We are witnessing increasing levels of violence throughout the UK, and those involved are, invariably, young men.
The question is, what to do about it?
No amount of hand-wringing and blame-gaming is going to fix this awful social problem.
Maybe it is time for the Government to re-introduce National Service and it need not be an automatic introduction to Army training that would possibly teach malcontents to be more professional in violent assaults.
The armed-forces teach a variety of technical skills that take the form of professional apprenticeships that would prepare conscripts for worthwhile jobs at the end of the period of national service.
At the same time, young men would be removed from their home environments, required to conform to social behaviour rules probably missing from their civilian environments, and come out of the experience as better and more responsible citizens.
Time for our politicians to step forward with a plan that would reduce youth violence while at the same time teaching skills that we are always hearing are in short supply in the UK, which is why we must always be in favour of immigration to supply skills that we don’t have.
Derek Farmer,
Knightsward Farm,
Anstruther.
Clarity needed before poll
Madam, – As across the UK we continue to debate what type of Brexit would be acceptable, or indeed whether it still might be overturned, Nicola Sturgeon is going to update us on what in Scotland is arguably an even bigger constitutional issue, namely the question of if and when we should have another independence referendum.
Given all we have learned in the Brexit process, the First Minister must ensure the difficult questions are answered in advance of a vote if whatever she announces is to have any kind of credibility.
So, assuming a UK Government at some point agrees to a second independence referendum – and understandably that is unlikely to be for some time yet to enable Brexit issues to be fully resolved – would the terms of any proposed departure from the UK be subject to a confirmatory vote, or otherwise?
Would Nicola Sturgeon commit to negotiating the key salient features with the UK Government before a second independence referendum is held?
Further, if the main trigger for another independence referendum is to be membership of the EU, how and on what terms would Scotland expect to rejoin the EU and would she secure guarantees for this from the EU before we are asked again about leaving the UK?
Making such commitments and delivering on them would be tough for the First Minister, yet what Brexit has shown is that proceeding before clarity is achieved on such matters simply places the whole country in limbo.
Keith Howell,
White Moss,
West Linton.
Political system is broken
Madam, – I used to think the UK political system was good.
Unfortunately I no longer think like that due to the pantomime at Westminster over Brexit. Politicians have displayed, in no particular order, anger, frustration, pomposity, selfishness, error, lack of respect, stupidity and total disregard of the “will of the people”.
Incidentally the number of people who voted for Brexit was 36% of the total number of people on the voters role.
Allan Bullions,
6 Glencairn Crescent,
Leven.
Rail points must be wrong
Madam, – It will come as news to the good folk of Thornton that, according to John Munro (More railways are not the answer, Courier, April 20), they are served by trains to Dundee and Aberdeen.
Last time I looked, the misleadingly-named Glenrothes with Thornton station was on the Fife Circle line, not the main line at all.
If any of these trains end up in Dundee or Aberdeen then somebody has wrongly set the points!
Jane Ann Liston,
Secretary,
Railfuture Scotland,
Largo Road
St Andrews.
Not everyone has a car
Madam, – Lots to disagree with in John Munro’s letter about railways.
Unfortunately, his arguments are somewhat undermined because he gets the facts wrong.
Some of the stations he claims are on the main line are not!
Thus the Fife stations Cowdenbeath and (Glenrothes with) Thornton are on the Fife Circle line, which has been frequently criticised recently. True, you can go to London and elsewhere in England from these stations, but not without changing.
Furthermore, not all of us have cars.
Jorgen Stepputat,
Cowdenbeath,
Fife.
