Six months on from the terrorist attack on Borough Market, the community is more united than ever

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This year, there will be a palpable sense of sadness, contemplation and remembrance as Borough Market switches on its Christmas lights, but there will also be a lot of love (AFP)

Today marks six months since the terrorist attack at London Bridge which left eight people dead and many more injured. That day and the days that followed were among the darkest anyone here at Borough Market can remember.

On 14 June, the market community gathered together for one of the most emotionally charged events in this institution’s long history: a ceremony to mark the reopening. Hundreds of people crammed into the tight passageways at the top of Three Crown Square to pay their respects, share their hurt and express their solidarity.

The strength and togetherness that shone through that morning made the return to something approaching normality just that little bit easier. The months that have followed have shown us how much Borough Market means to people not just here in Southwark but across the country and from all around the globe.

Nowhere has that been more obvious than in the extraordinary response to our appeal for donations to a trader support fund to aid those traders whose livelihoods had been threatened by the attack. Hit by missed trading days and lost stock, some of the independent businesses that make the Market such a bastion of small-scale production and specialist produce simply could not have sustained themselves without the generosity of hundreds of supporters, from the big local companies that pledged thousands to the individuals who each sent a fiver.

Next week, we will be gathering in the Market for another event. We’ll be switching on our Christmas lights with a small, low key ceremony, open to everyone. We will unveil a special festive installation, themed around protection, inclusion and timelessness.

This year, there will be a palpable sense of sadness, contemplation and remembrance (there are wounds that have yet to heal) but there will also be a lot of love, togetherness and hope on display. Most importantly we will share it with those friends, colleagues, neighbours and visitors who make Borough Market what it is, and what it will continue to be.

Donald Hyslop, Chair of Trustees, Borough Market
London SE1

If you don’t want to pay the cost of Brexit, don’t leave the EU

Brexiteers are suggesting that the requirement for the UK to pay €50bn upon leaving the EU reinforces our reasons for leaving the EU.

The 27 nations of the EU do not want our €50bn. They would prefer the UK to remain as a reforming and leading nation within a united Europe.

It is the UK’s decision to leave and, in doing so, we are bound to honour, and we must honour, all of our outstanding financial commitments and promises.

It is time to recognise the litany of lies and broken promises of Brexiteers. It is time to reject the blame that they are now pouring upon our neighbours.

It is the UK’s decision to leave a united Europe. Our neighbours want us to stay. In taking this catastrophic step let us at least retain our national dignity.

Martin Deighton
Woodbridge

When did our leaders stop caring about the truth?

President Trump sacked former national security adviser Michael Flynn, not because of what he did but because he lied about what he did, apparently. It could be a precedent that comes back to bite him.

Telling the truth should be the obvious choice for everyone, especially our politicians, although in this “fake news” world too often people “misspeak”. Time does not change the definition of the word “truth”, just its use.

The Bible says that we should “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Were we to follow this idea I think we would have very little demand for stones. There are people who try to live a completely honest life although they are much more likely to be found in a monastery than a political office.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

Damian Green – if found guilty – must face the consequences

The esteemed Brexit Secretary, David Davis, has reportedly asserted that he will resign from the cabinet if Damian Green is dismissed over allegations of pornography having been found on his work computer almost a decade ago. Andrew Mitchell has now also joined the boys' solidarity movement.

Where to begin?

Well, first, there is in place an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for Members of the House of Commons and their staff. The one I can find online was documented in May 2010. Was there one in place in 2008, when Green’s computer was found to be full of pornography? If so, why wasn’t action taken against him then?

If there was then no AUP, why ever not? And if not, was Green reprimanded at the time in any way? Who or who didn't download it seems to me to be an irrelevant detail. It was on the computer. There should never be any pornography on a workplace computer. Ten years ago, 10 weeks ago: just no. No.

Second, there must be a proper inquiry. Until we know the outcome of that enquiry, it would be seemly for Davis – and now also Mitchell, and any other “mates” – to keep quiet. Unless, of course, they also spontaneously and publicly leapt to the defence of female colleagues who were openly mocked in the House and harassed by male colleagues in their place of work, 10 years ago, 15 years ago or whenever it may be.

Lastly, why does Davis threaten to resign from the cabinet before any enquiry has taken place, let alone its outcome having been made known? Who is he threatening? His cabinet colleagues? Theresa May? The as yet non-existent enquiry? He has absolutely no business threatening any of the above. A very unkind thought has crossed my mind. Has he realised that Brexit is a complete, irredeemable disaster and has seen a way to bail out while claiming that he did so out of some honourable loyalty towards a mate?

Beryl Wall
Address supplied

Jacob Rees-Mogg just proved us right

Carrying on from a letter from G Forward correctly stating May can not control the far right in her own party, we are now told that Jacob Rees-Mogg has been meeting with Breitbart extremist Steve Bannon.

The only excuse I shall accept for such liaisons is a proposed remake of that excellent film The Remains Of The Day.

Robert Boston
Kent

The UK must unite in our disgust for Trump

I don't normally have a lot of time for Theresa May, but full marks to her for calling out the disgusting Trump over his loathsome racist retweets.

Contempt for this odious clown cuts right across the Brexit-Remain divide. The offer of a state visit should be withdrawn immediately.

Mike Wright
Nuneaton