The UK shouldn't roll out the red carpet for Mohammad bin Salman

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Queen Elizabeth II greets Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who arrived in the UK earlier today (PA)

Am I awaking from a bad dream? Are we actually celebrating the presence in our country of a representative of a state that publicly executes people by decapitating them? The human rights record of Saudi Arabia is abominable. Their reform? Allow women to drive.

This state visit is a stain on our nation. It is about selling arms and weapons of torture to a nation that should be held in contempt by any decent person. Where does that leave Prince Charles who is welcoming them? He should be utterly ashamed of himself.

David Mason
Darlington

As one drives from Heathrow to Westminster, on the route the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia will take, there are many posters and billboards of the type one normally finds only in Middle Eastern countries of their royal leaders, and only find in the UK of our own political leaders at election time.

Whilst a post-Brexit Britain needs such ties more than ever to provide stability and assurance of continued inward investment, we also to our friend and ally have some harsh truths I’m afraid.

One such poster shows a Saudi and British flag with the words “United Kingdoms”. Indeed if we are united, then the humanitarian crisis in Yemen by the strategy of blockade by Saudi Arabia is unacceptable. The hashtag #YemenChildren promoted by Unicef is but a rolling list of reasons why – death, bombings, air raids, some go as far as to say war crimes. Many parliamentarians of all parties have pleaded for the heavy-handed approach to end.

As a former Department for International Development minister and a current member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Qatar, as well as member of the House of Lords EU Committee, I have a special interest in the visit.

Our friends and allies in the Middle East also include Qatar, who themselves are also suffering from a blockade strategy by Saudi Arabia. These conflictual approaches do not assist the West’s fight against terrorism, in which Qatar is a key player.

Saudi Arabia needs a different approach to Yemen and Qatar if their claims of being a modern country, as the billboards in London proclaim, are to be anything but laughable.

Baroness Verma
House of Lords, London

Geoff’s Hoon’s article of 6 March 2018, argues that protests marking Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to London are counterproductive, and questions what protestors are asking Mohammad bin Salman to do.

In fact, we could not be clearer or more united in our asks to the Crown Prince, and to the Prime Minister. Human rights groups, humanitarian workers and concerned citizens alike are asking for Saudi Arabia to stop committing war crimes against Yemeni civilians, to stop obstructing food, fuel and aid to a starving country, and to commit to work towards a ceasefire and political solution.

And we are calling on the Prime Minister meeting with him to listen to the majority of the British public who want us to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, and to put British values and Yemeni lives above profit and politics. When she meets him we want Theresa May to make clear to the Crown Prince that Britain’s ongoing support is contingent on these things.

Only this will stop Yemen plunging ever deeper into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Alice Jay, campaign director at Avaaz
London N10

The old press will soon die out

Demonising Munroe Bergdorf only exposes the dying embers of the old press, which cannot control the multiple voices on social media. A hiccup; wise up.

Munroe Bergdorf will not be silenced for long.

Mike Bor
London W2

What about Gibraltar?

There has been a lot of talk about the UK’s relationship with Ireland after Brexit, but Gibraltar seems to have fallen by the wayside.

The Gibraltar issues represents an even bigger problem for a smooth Brexit or transition deal than Northern Ireland does, and let us not forget some 96 per cent of Gibraltarians voted to Remain in 2016.

The Irish border problem has to be faced up to because it was a condition of the Brexit divorce settlement and the start of talks on post-Brexit trade. Not so the case with Gibraltar.

If we end up with a hard Brexit, as seems to be the case, that means a hard border between Gibraltar and Spain. It would be even worse for Gibraltar than Northern Ireland, as almost everything Gibraltar needs relies to an extent on Spanish cooperation.

Placing Gibraltar outside the customs union and single market and adding onerous border controls would put Gibraltar under great hardship. Adding to this the EU has given Spain a formal veto over Brexit if Madrid is not happy with the Gibraltar dimensions of a Brexit deal.

The obvious answer is to give Gibraltar membership of the customs union and single market by special protocol. Other EU countries with dependencies, including some French territories in the Caribbean, have bespoke arrangements. Gibraltar could easily be treated much like other EU microstates such as Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City and Andorra.

But to get even that, Theresa May needs Spain to lift its veto and that would mean offering something to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, maybe a concession on sovereignty or governance. But it should be noted that the Gibraltar constitution also gives the territory and Gibraltar chief minister Fabian Picardo a veto over any changes.

So, while all eyes are on Northern Ireland, it is Gibraltar which will prove an even greater, if rather forgotten, conundrum for the UK Government.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

The Silent Child Oscar win shines a light on deaf children

The Silent Child winning an Oscar has shone a much-needed light on the issues facing parents when they find out their child is deaf. Ninety per cent of children who are deaf have parents with normal hearing. Most want to communicate with their child in the same way that they do. Many do not know what is possible and are surprised to learn that a profoundly deaf child can learn to talk as well as a hearing child.

Four out of five children who spend at least two years on Auditory Verbal UK’s early intervention programme achieve the same spoken language skills as a typical child of their age. Most attend mainstream schools.

The Silent Child highlights the need for sign language to be available in schools and how important it is for parents to be supported with their choices. We agree. We also need to ensure that parents who want their child to learn to speak know what is possible and have access to the necessary hearing technology and specialist support during the most critical early years of their lives. Far too many deaf children are missing out and underachieving at school and this really should not be the case.

Anita Grover, chief executive of Auditory Verbal UK
London SE16

Oh David Davis

David Davis says UK and EU still disagree on so many aspects of Brexit transition deal he cannot remember them all… or any?

Sounds like it’s all going swimmingly.

Eddie Dougall
Bury St Edmunds