The Brexit preparations remind me of preparing for the Cold War

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The Berlin Wall during the Cold War, when citizens were told to put mattresses against their doors (Alamy)

Do you remember the government advice on how to survive a Cold War nuclear bombardment?

I used to come home from school, and see on the television a poor-quality cartoon with an interference pattern (representing fallout), accompanied by the doom-laden words: “FALLOUT CAN KILL”. Watchers were then advised to make preparations which would help protect civilians in the event of a nuclear attack. I only remember a couple of these: hiding under the kitchen table and putting mattresses up against doors and windows – even back then, it occurred to me that these were rather makeshift precautions. Our glorious leaders, of course, would have underground concrete bunkers from which to govern the remnant of the mattress-wielding, table-protected populace.

My brother, who was very interested in all things military, told me not to bother with “that stuff” because, as we lived not far from the Nato base at Northwood, we would be an almost direct target for a nuclear strike and would be vaporised before we knew what had hit us. While not exactly comforting, this did give me the impression that it was not worth worrying about the paucity of advice on how to protect ourselves.

There are similarities with our current situation. However, this is not an external enemy plotting our downfall, but the result of poor government following the referendum. Faced with a withdrawal deal no one in parliament approves, a blind hope of various agreements which may or may not come to pass in the next six or seven years, during which negotiations take up even more governmental bandwidth (because the last two years were the easy bit), we are now aiming at (and paying billions for) crashing out of the EU with no deal. As the government has already betrayed the people, both Leavers and Remainers, and as the country and parliament are more divided than ever, Theresa May’s rationale for refusing a People’s Vote seems strangely empty.

Katharine Powell
Neston, Cheshire

Corbyn and May are equally bad

I for one will never forgive, nor forget, the damage these two, and their parties, are wreaking on this nation. Proof, if it were necessary, that our political system is completely broken, but remains in the hands of cynical vested interests possessing not an ounce of shame.

No wonder politicians are held in such dismal regard.

Arthur Streatfield​
Bath

Second chances

The passage of time has proven that the simple “yes” or “no” referendum was insufficiently nuanced. If the 2016 referendum was a road map, it had only a vague outline and no contours. Now the flawed map can be seen, with its catastrophic chasms and dangerous deluges, it is time for a second referendum. The executive is wielding too much quasi-presidential and almost regal power; parliament is being side-stepped by the executive and voters ineligible by age in 2016 are being denied their ballot. In order to prove that the electorate has a mind, it should be allowed to change it, now in clear awareness of the hostile political and socio-economic terrain ahead if it does not vote to remain within Europe.

M Collins
Kingston, Surrey

Turning the clock back... on everything

All this talk about “People’s Vote”, ”Second Chance” ,”Final Say” etc, demanding a second referendum on Brexit has made me think: would it not be a far better idea to hold a second referendum on the 1975 vote to JOIN Europe in the first place?

The advantages are immediately obvious: over the last 43 years Britain has contributed hundreds of trillions of pounds to the European budget, therefore, if we overturn the original decision, we did not join, and we could therefore demand all of that money back, which would massively revitalise our economy!

And why stop there! There are numerous other referendum results that should be revisited: Northern Ireland sovereignty, Scottish devolution, Welsh devolution, London’s mayor, MP selection procedures... in all of these a case could be made for the voters being misinformed at the original vote, so they should ALL be revisited. According to the arguments being used to justify a second Brexit referendum, anything less would be UNDEMOCRATIC. The government must give the voters a chance to revisit all these decisions IMMEDIATELY!

Ian McNicholas
Waunlwyd, Ebbw Vale

Antipodean assistance

In event of a no-deal Brexit, it will be necessary for industry to foster a real and beneficial plan for the future of business in the UK.

The annexation of post-no-deal-Brexit Britain by Australia, as an Australian Territory, would provide:

1. Australian citizenship and an Australian passport allowing reinstatement of pre-existing international travel, and free travel in all Australian Territories.

2. Semiautonomous statehood as an Australian Territory and then Australian State, allowing the people of the Australian State(s) of Britain (Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland) to elect representatives to both the Australian house of representatives and senate.

3. The ability to trade with the EU as an Australian Territory/State.

4. The ability to trade under the Pacific Free Trade Agreement.

The UK would lose the right of taxation, the final say on trade deals, a federal government and an independent military, but don’t say we didn’t offer a helping hand.

Sean Robert Meaney
Darwin, Australia

Skye’s the limit

If Ian Blackford is upset about Nicholas Soames’ jibe suggesting he return to Skye, then that is up to him.

What he is not entitled to claim is that Soames was insulting “Scotland” or “Scottish people”. We see this elision of party and country perpetrated with monotonous regularity by Scottish nationalists, at all levels of the party and its fellow travellers.

Please can we get it straight once and for all: the SNP is NOT Scotland and Scotland is NOT the SNP. To suggest otherwise is to take us back to the darker areas of the 20th century when party and state were projected as one entity.

Jill Stephenson
Edinburgh