Brexit was sold to us as magical snake oil – now it's time to deliver

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Thousands gathered in Parliament Square for a pro-EU march on Saturday (Getty)

The imminent triggering of Article 50 means the time has now come for Parliament to hold the Government to account on whether it can deliver the promise that Brexit will provide a better future for the British people.

Brexit snake oil was supposed to cure a host of ills, ranging from protection against the nasty effects of an overdose of EU economic immigration, immunisation against the debilitating disease of bloated EU regulation, a revitalised economy set free to surf the clear blue unpolluted waters of a free trade sea, and of course an additional £350m a week for the NHS.

When established experts challenged the claims of the Brexit snake-oil salesmen, sceptics were told to ignore them – who needs experts, the Brexit snake-oil salesmen said, they never really know what they are talking about.

Parliament must now hold the Government to account by demanding that it demonstrates Brexit is capable of meeting promises that were made to 65 million UK citizens, and prove to the sceptical 16 million people who voted Remain that they were wrong.

J Gaskell
Bishops Stortford

Terrorism has nothing to do with religion

Theresa May was prudent not to describe the criminal act in Westminster as “Islamic terror”. It is absolutely wrong to tarnish more than a billion Muslims with the brush of extremist violence for the actions of a minority.

Uncontrolled migration always comes with daunting challenges. However, neither social media nor immigration are entirely responsible for terrorism. Immigrants’ contributions to the welfare of Western societies and economies were and are still indefatigable, inspirational and unforgettable.

It is time to investigate the underlying causes of homegrown terrorism and not ignite the embers of discord and distrust.

Munjed Farid al Qutob
London, NW2

Benefit sanctions must stop

Whilst issues such as Brexit and the state of the NHS are rightly in the news at the moment, the Government quietly continues to pursue a policy that has caused untold misery for many: the benefit sanctions policy.

Benefit sanctions were set up to catch people out who cheat the system. However, the evidence clearly shows that many legitimate claimants are punished unfairly. People have had their benefits stopped for reasons including: being minutes late for a Job Centre appointment, not applying for work whilst waiting to start a new job, and even missing a meeting to attend the funeral of a family member.

Whilst claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance myself, the Job Centre threatened to cut my benefits unless I agreed to do unpaid work at Tesco for four weeks. I literally had no choice but to work for less than the minimum wage at a multi-billion pound company. It was deeply humiliating.

The evidence shows that this dysfunctional policy costs the taxpayer considerably more to administer than it saves. Analysis from the National Audit Office shows that the DWP spend £30-50m yearly in applying sanctions and around £200m a year in monitoring the terms it sets for jobseekers, yet these measures only reduced the benefits bill by £132m in 2015.

I would strongly urge the Government to scrap this cruel and wasteful policy of benefit sanctions, instead investing taxpayers’ money into genuinely helping people into secure and sustainable work, rather than punishing them for minor indiscretions and pushing them into poverty.

Lee Burkwood
​Waltham Forest and Redbridge Green Party

Raising taxes is the answer to our economic problems

Despite almost 10 years since the disaster of the banks, we are still assailed by pronouncements that the country cannot afford the NHS, the prison service, police, social care and schools. We must see services cut.

In any other walk of life a different approach would be adopted. We would ask, in order: what do we want, how much will it cost and how can we pay for it. This, of course, would lead to the obvious conclusion that to achieve a fair, equitable and modern society we need better services which will cost more. We get better quality from paying more and the obvious solution (but not the entire solution, I know) is to raise taxation. This, at least, is graduated and reflects the ability to pay.

But maybe the lofty and distant political elite believe that only by squeezing the poor and disadvantaged can they buy off the rich and leave themselves to doze on the green leather couches.

Tim Rubidge
Salisbury

The ‘supermassive’ black hole sounds familiar

As I read about the “supermassive” black hole rocketing through space at five million miles an hour, I couldn’t help feeling that this massively destructive force tearing about all over the place sounded somewhat familiar...

I don’t know whether astronomers name black holes the way that meteorologists name hurricanes but, if they do, might I suggest Boris?

Julian Self
Milton Keynes

The best deal for the UK and for Europe is simple

David Davis wants “a deal that works for every nation and region of the UK and indeed for all of Europe – a new, positive partnership between the UK and our friends and allies in the European Union”.

Idea: let’s join the EU.

Dave Mellor
Address supplied