Letter to the I: Referendum Lies

I second Richard Addington's comments with regards to Brexiteers attitudes to the prospect of a second referendum.  I find it very interesting how while their consciences rest easy now they had their first referendum, they all of a sudden presume that all hell will break loose after a second one.  Not that they very much mind the sharp divisions created in our country by the first one.  Prominent Brexiteers themselves such as Jacob Rees Mogg MP once advocated two referendums once a negotiated deal has emerged.  His justification for this was that the referendums would be asking two different questions to the British electorate.  For once I agree with him.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Brexit Pain Letter

I am frankly astounded at Anne Benninger's commentary on Mark Wallace's article.  The 'we have had it worse' argument is baffling, nonsensical and hardly a convincingly enthusiastic endorsement of Brexit.  How far back must we go into the horrors of British history in order to keep our chins up?  Am I right to understand that Brexit won't be as bad as a civil war or a light sprinkling of plague?  What a relief!  It is incredible how easily the narrative of enduring pain has come into the pro-Brexit play book.  I could of sworn we were promised a utopia.  A utopia with pain sounds a little bit ominous.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Learning from Europe Letter

Mark Wallace has spent months preaching about how allegedly Remain voters were fixated on negative campaigning.  But given that now it seems his winning argument is that other European  countries are worse than our own, he should eat some humble pie.  Instead of indulging in his toxic nationalism I would say that it is more constructive to reflect on what our neighbours do well, that we can learn from.  The Netherlands and Germany do better than us in terms of labour and manager relations.  The Norwegians did better to invest their North Sea oil money into a fund that covers much of their social spending.  Or perhaps it is too painful to our national pride to look at paths we perhaps should have taken.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Trump Supporters in the UK Letter

It is one thing to celebrate the US Democrats taking the US House of Representatives, but we have to confront the Trump supporters in our own country.  The longer his presidency goes on the more they feel empowered.  They incite hatred against liberal democracy for problems and grievances that they are too angry and ignorant to properly understand or address.  Their cause uses the worst instincts of human nature to promote an ideology that makes no sense.  Since it does not make any sense all we need to do is stay brave in front of their anger, and calmly demonstrate that they are wrong.

Regards

Wat Tyler

Bristol

Letter to the I: Prince Charles Letter

What does Prince Charles expect from us when he says that he will keep quiet as king?  Are we supposed to be relieved?  This neatly encapsulates the silliness of our constitutional set up.  The Monarch is meant to represent the state and as such is meant to pretend to have no opinions, or risk a constitutional crisis if they have any.  Anyone with a pulse has an opinion.  The Irish election clearly shows that the sensible alternative is to have a democratic mandate for a Head of State with modest powers.  If we don't like what they do or don't say, then we can just vote them out.

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol

Letter to the I: Green Air Travel

While Jack Noel says we shouldn't be so "joyful" about people jetting off because of the environmental damage, I say he should not be so judgmental of them.  It is unrealistic and deeply morally folly to expect people to turn their back on flying.  We should be happy for people who use the opportunity presented by low cost air travel to see more of the world.  We should also accept the fact that such travel is an integral part of the world economy.  Since flying is here to stay we need to focus our energies away from judgment and towards innovation.  As one of the pioneering countries of aviation, surely we can task our industries with making air travel more friendly to the Earth?

Regards

Wat Tyler

Bristol

Letter to the I: Response to Mark Wallace's Article

Mark Wallace's article dripped with self justification and fantasy.  I heard hardly anyone talk about being worried about being governed by "structures" and "quangos".  They did however talk about how their public services are failing and their government feels remote, which Mr. Wallace's own party is responsible for.  It is very comforting to blame it all on structures.  But who voted in the referendum while admitting a lack of knowledge on the EU?  Who can't decide on what kind of Brexit deal they would like?  Who voted by 52% to lead us into this confusion?  After his big words will Mark Wallace have the courage confront the electorate with these questions?

Regards

Zachary Barker

Bristol