Letter to the I: Calais Border Issue

In answer to Paul Cross's letter, if Macron had taken lessons off of Trump he would be charging the refugees for the Calais border posts, not the UK.  The current border arrangement is due to the Le Touque Treaty between the UK and France, which is only valid if both parties consent to it.  Short of rebuilding the Angevin Empire in Normandy there is very little we can do if the French Government does not want to continue with this arrangement.  Instead of complaining about Macron's tough stance on this issue we should be matching him with shrewd diplomacy and ideas.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Annus Horribilis

The National Archives release, reported by i, regarding the Monarchy's "Annus Horribilis" is especially interesting considering what is already public knowledge.  Following Annus Horribilis the British Monarchy convened the Way Ahead Committee composed of leading Royals and their advisors.  This charted a very well crafted PR plan to recapture public support for the Monarchy.  This included maximising the publicity of the future marriages and children of the young princes before they even met potential wives and mothers.  This questionable, relentless selling of their private lives is the price the Prince's pay for the Monarchy surviving.  Perhaps we should ask; is this price not too high?

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Gerry Adams

The National Archives releases concerning revelations about Gerry Adams in the 1980s, while interesting, are not that surprising.  Investigative journalists have speculated that Adams may have conceived of the peace process with his fellow prisoners in Cage 11 in The Maze prison, .  With regards to the Loughghall ambush; the PIRA Tyrone Brigade that was devastated in the ambush were vocal opponents of Adams' leadership faction. This is a strong motive for a tip off to the British by them. With this in mind, it could be said that Adams was prepared to make tough sacrifices in the cause of peace.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: The Jerusalem Issue

With respect to Peter Lageard's letter with regards to Jerusalem, he should know that his idea has already been tried.  The 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine proposed that Jerusalem became an international city owned by neither the new Jewish or Arab States.  The reason why this plan didn't work is that the Palestinians rejected it, thus triggering the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.  While people have consistently pointed their fingers at successive Israeli leaders, it is really Palestinian leaders that have failed the test of leadership.  If a person with the charisma and foresight of Nelson Mandela was ever born in Palestine, I am convinced that Palestinian fortunes would of changed for the better long ago.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to The Economist: Diplomacy with the Russians

With respect to Sir Tony Brenton's letter regarding Russia, I appreciate that his job inclines him to seek greater diplomatic efforts.  However one could argue that Russia acts in such a way as to be hardly a trustworthy partner in negotiating on alleged common problems.  Take cyber crime for example.  With evidence of Russian troll farms and state-sponsored hacking the computer networks of democratic countries, it is obvious that our interests are very different.  Furthermore cooperation on tackling such problems should not come at the expense of the freedom of Russia's neighbours.  One only has to remember the shame our country still carries for offering Joseph Stalin the infamous Percentages Agreement.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Lost with Boris

I second Roger Turner's letter about Boris Johnson's meaningless warnings concerning the UK allegedly becoming a "vassal state".  His disappointing record has done much to diminish our influence in the world.  Meanwhile cuts to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to the armed forces have diminished our soft and hard power respectively.  At the same time as our fixation on Brexit France under President Macron has picked up the diplomatic initiative.  If Boris focuses less on his vanity project and more on the UK foreign policy one, we may become a strong and independent nation.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Dark Day for Democracy?

I disagree completely with Tom Trust's assertion that the Commons vote for a parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal was a "dark day in our democracy".  This government has tried to sidestep Parliament more than once on this issue.  It is entirely right that all parties should be able to examine the Brexit deal before it is passed into law.  Otherwise we are allowing Theresa May and the DUP  to write a blank cheque.  It is not too much to ask to look at it before it is cashed.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Vulnerability of the DUP

Theresa May should use her renewed confidence boost from the progression of the EU talks to ditch the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).  DUP leader Arlene Foster's tough stance on the last deal hides her party's political vulnerability.  May could easily rule by a minority government without a formal agreement with the DUP, since Corbyn's past association with Irish Republicanism means they can't cooperate with him.  The DUP leadership has also exposed itself to charges of hypocrisy.  They say they want the same treatment in law with the UK.  However they seem to make an exception of this when it comes to social policy such as that concerning abortion.  The Republic of Ireland is arguably a more liberal place than Northern Ireland thanks to the influence of the DUP.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Letter to the I: Israel and Palestine

Donald Trump's decision to allow the US to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has likely put the two-state solution back by many years.  Perhaps at this stage a South African style one-state solution is just as impossible to achieve as a two-state one.  For the post-apartheid project both African and Boer Nationalism had to take a back seat to forge a new nation.  In this nation former enemies were responsible for each other's security.  The problem we face today though is that both Israeli and Palestinian nationalism is rampant and likely uncontainable.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Bargain with Brexiters

Brexiters are regularly accusing us Remain voters of trying to sabotage Brexit.  As a way of reaching a compromise with them I propose we leave the EU, but stay in the EFTA and have a written constitution for the country.  During the campaign Brexiters advocated staying in the EFTA, before they moved the goalposts after winning, but I consent to their first broken pledge.  Since the EU laws copied over in the EU Withdrawal bill can simply be overturned by an act of Parliament, I want our rights to finally be enshrined in a clearly codified constitution.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol 

Elected Head of State

Roger Simmon's letter displayed both a worrying contempt for democracy and a woeful lack of understanding about republicanism.  If he is afraid that a politician who is an elected Head of State may abuse their powers, why do we not just give them similar powers to our unelected Head of State?  The Republic of Ireland has an elected Head of State with similar powers to our monarch and the arrangement works well.  It should also be noted that we already have a politician as Head of State, just one who is unaccountable to the electorate and able to lobby for their vast private interests in secret.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Royal Tourism Letter

There seemed to be more biased presumptions than facts in the "Fact Check: Do Tourists Visit Britain because of the Royal Family?".  Most European countries that are now republics still attract tourism with their aura of history.  The so-called "Fact Check" also avoided discussing an inescapable irony faced by monarchist Brexiters.  They are seemingly comfortable to vote for Brexit to allegedly not have foreigners dictate how we are governed, but are happy for them to choose our Head of State to sell our principles for tourist pounds.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Republican Alternative to The Crown

I entirely agree with Jessica Barrett that there is a danger of us facing a Royal media overload.  I suggest to counter this that Netflix invests in a series about the humble and courageous Irish republican Michael Collins.  While the cast of "The Crown" are concerned about their characters' opulence, Michael Collins was more frugal and rather homely.  He was born in a simple farmhouse.  He worked in 9 to 5 administration jobs to support his family.  He loved playing practical jokes on his friends and he defeated the British Empire from the back of a bicycle.

Regards

Zac Barker

Bristol