Letter to the I: Boris Letter

It was always a terrible idea to have a buffoonish opportunist like Boris Johnson be our Foreign Secretary.  He had the perfect chance to outline how Jeremy Corbyn's concept of British foreign policy is a threat to our country and blew it with name calling and bluster.  Jeremy Corbyn wants to live in a world governed by international law, but does not admit that it sometimes takes the use of force to uphold it.  Also for ideological reasons he rejects NATO which is not only the most successful military alliance in existence, but owes it's existence to one of our finest Foreign Secretaries in our history; Labour's Ernest Bevin.

Zac Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: UKIP Letter

UKIP's policy on banning burkhas and hijabs shows that the party has no sense of irony.  They want to tackle a culture that tells women what to wear by enforcing a culture that tells women what to wear.  I remain unconvinced of the security arguments with regards to this policy.  For a start, all of the previous jihadist terrorists in this country have been men in western clothing.  What UKIP is really driving at is the feeling that many of their voters have that they just don't like how these clothes look.  Perhaps instead of criminalising women of a minority group en masse they should simply grow up and not judge people by appearances.  Is our law not founded on the notion that people are innocent before proven guilty?

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Asma Al Assad Letter

The suggestion that we should erase Asma Al-Assad of her UK citizenship betrays our lack of interest in meaningfully addressing the sins of her husband.  It is very telling of this country's lack of confidence and moral cowardice after the Iraq War that we have downgraded from confronting dictators to confronting their wives. 

     I have no love for her husband but believe she should keep her citizenship.  New Labour governments started an insidious trend in the early years of the War on Terror where they erased the citizenship of British terror suspects.  This was so they could be abducted and tortured with impunity via the US CIA's Extraordinary Rendition programme.  We should be brave enough to say that Human Rights are universal principles that shouldn't be taken away from anyone. And that includes from wives of husbands with blood on their hands.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Matthew Norman's Article

Matthew Norman's article in this newspaper on 12th April read too much like an apology to Putin's Russia for my liking. It appears  Matthew Norman is typical of many commentators who readily blame the West for shunning Russia, but fail to take into account the fault of Russia's policy.  Surely the impetus was on Russia to repair relations with their neighbours who had suffered years, sometimes centuries, of Russian imperialism?  Is Ukraine not a sovereign country that has a right to determine its own foreign policy?

     Matthew Norman is wrong to cite rhetoric being the problem, since our politicians are usually not courageous enough to take this issue on head on.  Actions speak louder than words, yet the West has not yet gathered the resolve to put punitive sanctions on Russia.  Instead of appeasing a rogue state he should perhaps speculate more on how to outmanoeuvre it definitively.

Regards

Zachary Barker 

Letter to the I: Middle Eastern Tyrants

I vehemently disagree with the suggestion Mr MacMillan made in his letter about giving tyrants of the Middle East a free hand.  His argument was also supported by a factually incorrect reading of recent history.  Iraq was not a stable and peaceful country.  The ruler of that country kept torture centres running non-stop, violently oppressed minorities and invaded his neighbours.  The alleged utopia of Libya was also run by a madman who sponsored a list of terrorist groups that would fill this newspaper's letters column in terms of size.

     This toxic and dishonest line of argument is being pursued by many arm chair strategists to try and justify isolationism in the face of evil.  Who are we to tell people to stop fighting against tyranny?  All countries without exception have had periods of turbulence on the path to democracy, none of them without any outside influence.  The UK has undergone several civil wars, abdication crises and rebellions (to name a few events) and we still do not have a full democracy.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Partrick Cockburn's articles

While I have respect for the work Patrick Cockburn puts into his journalism, although I tend to find his conclusions and analysis frustrating.  In the 10th April issue he alleged that relieving President Assad from power in Syria would not end the fighting and is not possible logistically.  Yet he neglected to point out that 6 years of him being at the helm during wartime have seen an intensification of the war, showing that his peacemaking skills are somewhat lacking.

     Patrick Cockburn in his series of articles about liberated Mosul again seems to go to unusual lengths to talk about how the Islamic State brought a certain order to people's lives.  But mentions less than most journalists about the grim price of that order.  I would like to hear more solutions from him than devil's advocate positioning.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Syrian Civil War

Colin Lester's letter very much exaggerated the success of the US-Russian chemical weapons disarmament deal in Syria.  It is evident now that Assad had never intended to give up his weapons.  He and Russia cleverly exploited the Western public's fear of intervention in the Syrian Civil War to give us the excuse we needed to go back to watching the carnage on television.

     I partly disagree with Peter Dorr's letter with regards to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's cancellation of his trip to Moscow.  What President Putin wants above all else is legitimacy.  We have to show that he can't have it by acting like a gangster.  But what we can do is tell Russia in no uncertain terms the only way out of Syria for them is a negotiated solution between their puppet state and the rebels.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Appeasing Russia

I am disappointed but not surprised to hear about the British Government's subtle moves towards appeasement with Russia.  I am not surprised since Theresa May in her previous cabinet post postponed the inquest into the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko  so as not to offend the Russians, against the wishes of his grieving widow.

     And now our destructive policy towards Europe has suddenly pushed May to embrace the most illiberal partners she can find including the Gulf States, Turkey and now Russia.  Any cooperation May pursues with Russia should be accompanied by a clear message; this does not absolve Russia of bad behaviour.  If they want respect then they must stop being a rogue state.

Regards

Zac Barker

Letter to the I: Gibraltar Comments

Why do members of the Tory Party feel such a need to express national confidence and resolve in embarrassing ways?  First we had Michael Fallon talking up our modest contribution to the fight against the Islamic State as the "Battle of Britain" and now Lord Howard is getting nostalgic over the Falklands War.  It seems that they do not feel confident in our own nations' capabilities to be strong and silent.

      It probably has something to do with the fact that this government is expert at hollowing out our armed forces while making them look nice and presentable, making us look like a paper tiger.  As for Lord Howard he should pay attention to Abraham Lincoln's advice:  "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt".

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: 3 Day Weekend Letter

While I admire the idealism and the compassion behind the Green Party's idea for a 3 day weekend, I do think this idea is somewhat unhelpful.  It is particularly unhelpful for workers in the emergency services who do not always enjoy the luxury of a weekend.  It is also especially unhelpful for those of us, myself included, who get paid on a per hour basis.  This coming bank holiday of two enforced days off will put a noticeable hole in my pay packet.

     If the Greens are genuinely worried about exploitation then perhaps they need to focus more on spreading awareness of workers statutory rights, particularly those workers who are not on permanent contracts.  Many of them are vulnerable to having their hours changed without consultation and face bullying and harassment from managers.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Reply to Brexit Letter

Robert Readman's daily letter,  31st March edition, completely misses the point.  While Mr Readman chiefly blames the EU so-called "Eurocrats " for us leaving I believe the main blame lies with us.   We had 40 years to try and set out an alternative vision for the EU.  Instead of being constructive we used those 40 years just to endlessly grumble, complain and display unyielding pessimism about the course of the organisation.

     Claims like Readman's hide the real reasons why we are pursuing our current course.  The truth is that we are having an identity crisis, the consequences of which will hit our economy like a train crash, not to mention our public services in which EU migrants work.  Those who voted for Brexit because they regret how they voted in the 1970s should frankly get over it.

Regards

Zac Barker