UK Edition
Letters: MPs can't thwart Brexit now, since 544 of them voted for the referendum in the first place
SIR – You note in your leading article that “No 10 has decided that Parliament should not be permitted to stop the triggering of Article 50, and thus block Brexit”. But whatever the Prime Minister – or indeed the Leader of the Opposition – might wish, Parliament is sovereign in our representative democracy, so a vote of no confidence in the Government over Article 50 could, at the very least, delay the process by triggering a general election.
I would have some sympathy with any MP who felt, in all conscience, that leaving the EU was not in the interests of the country, or Europe as a whole, and voted accordingly. However, I doubt that there would be many MPs prepared to vote this way, given that the vast majority (544-53) voted for the referendum on June 9 2015, and consequently “the die is cast”.
Nigel Currie
Bristol
SIR – It seems that many of the 544 MPs who voted for an EU referendum, now seek to put barriers in the way of Brexit. They show the same contempt for democracy as the EU President, who said of the French referendum: “If it’s a Yes, we will say 'On we go’, and if it’s a No, we will say 'We continue’.”
Those MPs should surely make way for others who are ready to uphold the will of the people. Such MPs in areas with the highest pro-Brexit votes should be the first to stand down.
Roger J Arthur
Pulborough, West Sussex
SIR – As a lifelong Tory voter I cannot believe that Theresa May will proceed with Brexit without the agreement of Parliament, against the wishes of the majority of elected MPs.
We may be frustrated by Brussels and its bureaucracy, but such a course can be seen as an even greater threat to our democracy.
Graham King
Sutton Coldfield
SIR – It appears that Theresa May has received advice from government lawyers that she can invoke Article 50 under the royal prerogative. Given the recent history of “advice” to PMs, and her new-found belief in popular democracy that sidelines Parliament, she should publish this advice, with information on who provided it and what question was asked, in order that hoi polloi (such as me) can understand the basis for this monumental step.
Nigel Bowker
Banchory, Aberdeenshire
SIR – On June 23, the people spoke, indicating clearly they wanted out of the EU. Can we therefore ask MPs to get on with it?
B E Norton
Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire
SIR – What is disturbing about Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is that she has shown no recognition of (let alone remorse for) having effectively driven Britain out of Europe by her insane immigration policy.
Dr Andrew Norman
Poole, Dorset
Cricket earache
SIR – Dr Bryan Goodrich (Letters, August 27) is quite right to complain about intrusive music pumped out at high volume at one-day cricket games. The noise is unbearable. Every time a boundary is struck or a wicket falls there disco music is played relentlessly until the next ball is bowled.
At a One-Day Cup game at Taunton, the most awful noise spoiled the whole day. I shall never visit the ground again for such an event. A steward told me this was the biggest complaint they received about one-day games.
Should Somerset make it through to the final at Lord’s, there will be no music played If it is good enough for Lord’s, then let’s have the same atmosphere at other grounds.
Digby Greenhill
Hatherleigh, Devon
SIR – Genuine cricket lovers are the last thing cricketing authorities want. They want spectacle to appeal to advertisers, sponsors and “punters” who drink to provide income.
Mel Lowthion
Sittingbourne, Kent
Poor white boys
SIR – Fraser Nelson described one of the hidden faces of inequality in Britain – the academic performance of poor white boys.
He is right that the emphasis on getting working-class boys into university rather misses the point, as by 18 the damage is already done. But it would be wrong to focus on schools alone as the solution.
Boys fall behind before they even reach the classroom. Save the Children’s research shows that by the age of five, one in three white boys from low-income homes fail to achieve the speech and communication skills they need for school.
Excellent schools do a lot to help children catch up, but the sad fact is that those who start school behind tend to stay behind. We must act earlier. Alongside a focus on school standards, we should be just as rigorous with nurseries. There is clear evidence that high-quality nurseries led by graduate nursery teachers are among the most decisive routes to prevent children, particularly poor boys, from falling behind.
Theresa May spoke powerfully about the plight of poor boys in her first speech on the steps of Downing Street. By boosting nursery quality, ministers could achieve the historic change the Prime Minister is demanding.
Tanya Steele
Interim CEO, Save the Children
London EC1
Watch the swallows
SIR – A flight of over 100 swallows swooped and darted in agitation over our house yesterday morning, as we heard rumbles of thunder from the South. Thirty minutes later we experienced a once-in-a-lifetime cloudburst . Did the swallows know something?
Tim Deane
Tisbury, Wiltshire
SIR – As my photo shows, one swallow is heading South very soon.
Janet Parker
Catherine-de-Barnes, Warwickshire
Dying out of hospital
SIR – As the NHS tries to balance the books (“NHS takes axe to hospital units amid financial crisis”, report, August 26), the voluntary sector can help improve health and care services.
Almost half of us will die in a hospital bed – often with no clinical need or wish to be there. This ties up resources that cannot then be invested in out-of-hospital care.
Hospices play a vital role and, with greater support from the NHS, could go even further in reducing numbers in hospital at the end of their life. Alternative care can be given in hospices, care homes, or in people’s own homes, which is where most dying people would prefer to be. And it would save the NHS money.
Lord Howard of Lympne
Chairman, Hospice UK
London WC1
Shoddy music
SIR – Simon Heffer (Review, August 27) praises some new recordings of 20th-century British music, “much of it”, he says, “from before the era when composers wrote mainly to satisfy themselves rather than the listening public”.
He is surely right that a marked deterioration in the quality of new music began in the late 1950s or thereabouts. However, I suspect the reason is not quite what he suggests.
As a professional musician in the Sixties and Seventies, I had contact with some prominent composers, and I didn’t get the impression that many found it satisfying to produce shoddy, unmusical work. Rather, they were pushed into it by their effective paymasters – the Arts Council, the universities and the BBC.
Dr Alex Abercrombie
Pembroke
Ban bank holidays
SIR – The practice of allowing the entire working population to take extended weekends on eight fixed days of the year creates chaos and disruption.
Roads are congested and destinations overcrowded. Frayed tempers lead to family strife. Support services operate under huge pressure.
It is time we required companies instead to provide their staff with an additional eight days of holiday, to be taken at any time by normal agreement. The peaks of demand on transport and facilities would then be smoothed throughout the year.
Michael Edmond
Hoarwithy, Herefordshire
The unforgettable effect of a clown-priest
SIR – As a 17-year-old, I first met the Rev Roly Bain, the clown-priest (Obituaries, August 22), in 1988 at St Oswald’s, Bristol, where he talked about angels. He proceeded to crush a brown paper bag from which feathers flew out. It was the most memorable depiction of that tricky subject of the physicality of angels that I have ever seen.
Becky Nesbitt
Rhayader, Radnorshire
SIR – Roly Bain should be remembered for the way his clown ministry could challenge the thinking of the Church.
The entire clergy of the diocese had come together to consider how we might, all working together, make the Church more relevant and accessible. As we waited for proceedings to start with our first Eucharist, Roly made his entrance, wandering inquisitively around the makeshift altar. He appeared then to be surprised to find a Bible on a nearby lectern. He carefully examined it, and, opening it, carefully blew a huge cloud of dust from it.
Sadly, such challenges to our thinking were lost to the critical voices. How we need more like him.
Nicholas Lang
Bristol
Foreign students bring benefits to Britain
SIR – Reducing the number of genuine international students coming to Britain for periods of study will damage the economy.
International (non-EU) students already make a £7 billion contribution to the economy, generating almost 137,000 jobs in every region of the country. They also enrich campuses both academically and culturally.
Many return home having forged strong professional and personal links that provide long-term, soft-power benefits for Britain.
Its world-class higher education sector is one of Britain’s outstanding success stories. We have the second largest share of the global market, after the United States.
Polling shows that the British public regards international students as valuable, temporary visitors. They come, study for a period, and then the overwhelming majority go home.
If Britain is to meet the Government’s own target of increasing total education exports to £30 billion by 2020, it needs a new approach to immigration that is proportionate and welcoming to genuine international students.
Dame Julia Goodfellow
President, Universities UK
London WC1
SIR – If, of the 327,000 net annual migrants, 10 per cent are of school age, that alone would require 1,100 new teachers. Add this each year, and the real issues of mass migration emerge.
John Ball
Shoebury, Essex