Trump would not condone his own behaviour in business

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Donald Trump addresses delegates during the final day session of the Republican National Convention (AP)

Donald Trump has been undoubtedly successful in business. He has succeeded to excel in making profit in the real estate but he has lost the real legitimacy to lead a civilized and multicultural nation like the United States.

He had forfeited his chances to acclaim the potential of leadership the moment he had started acting childishly, behaving irresponsibly and slandering entire communities. With such attributes you might suspect he would only be somewhat successful in developing countries or, God forbid, if the US was involved in civil war or racial segregation once again. A man filled with rage is needed in that kind of atmosphere of tension and division to incite hatred and reignite the fire of tribalism.

But even in today's developing countries he would not have survived long; leaders there are becoming mature enough to be tolerant and inclusive, due to the rapid change of demographics that is taking place.

Trump himself would not have tolerated such outlandish behaviour in the business world. He would have fired the belligerent candidate who looks down on others. It is mind boggling, then, to see him with the luggage he is carrying on his shoulders to expect to go far in his quest for leadership.

Abubakar N. Kasim
Toronto, Canada

Your leader writer notes that during Donald Trump's speech at the Republican convention, “hardly once” did he smile. Having seen Trump’s smile once or twice – when he stood beside his running mate and pretended to kiss him, and when he stood beside his wife after her ill-fated speech – I think the less we see of it the better.

It is a most peculiar contortion of the features, lips shoved upwards and outwards, no teeth visible, eyebrows positioned in a faux self-deprecatory grimace, chin thrust forward. Whatever it is, it certainly isn’t a proper smile. I don’t like it. It makes my blood run cold. Any body language experts out there who can analyse it for us?

Penny Little
Great Haseley, Oxfordshire

Like Donald Trump, I boast of my humility.

Christopher Pearce
London W5

How democracy works

It’s a shame that Jeremy Corbyn, in spite of his protestations to the contrary, should place himself in the same disconnected club as Cameron and New labour, unable to comprehend the significance of the vote to leave the European Union.

Cameron warned of economic collapse and reduced income if we dare to vote to leave the EU. Gordon Brown on behalf of New Labour, coming late in the referendum campaign, said he understood people’s concerned about uncontrolled immigration from Europe and proposed extra fund to areas most affected.

Corbyn’s answer is to enforce similarity of conditions across the EU to ensure no undercutting of wages and building more homes. That, he thought, was better than ending the free movement of labour.

It may come as a surprise to the political elite, but ordinary working people aspire to more than just a job, a home, the NHS and social services. They can think beyond the day-to-day struggle to survive and aspire to have control over their lives, their future, and the future of their communities and the direction of their country.

Cameron, Brown and now Corbyn treat workers not as active participants in their own destiny but as objects to have things done to them or done for them. All three view the world through the prism of global capital in which everything is a commodity with a price tag. As Oscar Wilde once observed, they know the price of everything and the value of nothing. What price sovereignty?

Fawzi Ibrahim
London NW2

In the name of restoring democracy, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has detained several thousand detractors who were themselves keen to restore it from him. Jeremy Corbyn restored democracy to the Labour Party by insisting the hundreds of thousands of Labour members who voted for him constitute more democracy than the millions who voted for his MPs.

The British people were so affronted by the supposed lack of democracy at the heart of Europe that effectively just 33 per cent of them, most of whom had never bothered to vote in a European election, “restored democracy” by voting the UK out of Europe altogether. Now Nicola Sturgeon is so anxious about the threat to democracy in Scotland that she is considering splitting Scotland away from the UK to restore it.

Bucking the trend is our own Conservative government who appear to have abandoned democracy altogether. At the moment, Kim Jong-un carries more democratic mandate: at least the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea has elections – albeit with only one name on the ballot.

Presumably, after the referendum, Theresa May is nervous about letting the British people have a vote on anything. Or maybe she thinks the quest for democracy has caused enough trouble.

Richard Walker
Malvern

The EU referendum was advisory – and the people should be told

Peter Tot’s letter shows a common and basic misunderstanding of our parliamentary democracy. Members of Parliament are our representatives, not our delegates. On any decision they have the moral and legal duty to make up their own mind about deciding what is best for their country, after taking into account their constituents’ views on the matter in question.

This essential constitutional point was totally mishandled by a complacent David Cameron in respect of the EU referendum. It should have been obvious to him, and publicly stated, that the referendum was advisory only; that Parliament would make any consequential decision; and that a two-thirds majority in any referendum or plebiscite would be the norm for an important decision to be implemented or acted upon by Parliament. Having an unwritten constitution, this position should have been made crystal clear to the electorate.

It is equally bewildering that our current Prime Minister, Theresa May, misunderstands the legal position when she says “Brexit means Brexit”. On the face of things it is preposterous that 51.8 per cent of the electorate can determine our constitutional status, involving the probable exit from the EU and the possible break-up of the UK with Scotland departing therefrom. Would May have adopted the same slogan if say 16 million had voted to Remain and 16 million plus one had voted to Leave? If not, why not?

Finally, according to the BBC, 150 MPs supported Leave whilst 479 MPs campaigned to Remain. Presumably all of them did so for good reason. I think the time has now come for those 479 to explain their present stance as a result of the referendum.

David Ashton
Shipbourne, Kent

What is the betting that we won't leave the EU?

Linda Johnson
Beverley, East Yorkshire

Kent travellers trapped by Brexit fallout

The queues in Kent: are there similar queues in Holland, Spain and Germany, of holiday makers attempting to enter France for their holidays? As I have seen or heard nothing of similar queues (I am willing to be proved wrong) in other countries, am I to conclude the French are being beastly to us once more – especially in light of a certain referendum we held recently.

Steven Shuter
Birmingham

Whatever the nature of the enhanced security measures in Dover that have caused hours of misery for thousands of travellers, I am not sure how they will prevent people murdering the innocent in Nice, Paris, Munich or anywhere else, if they are so minded.

Dr Anthony Ingleton
Sheffield

Humble beginnings?

I'm so bored of people droning on about their humble beginnings as if this adds credibility to their argument and gives them access the to the moral high ground, usually when the morality of the argument is questionable.

On Saturday, Janet Street-Porter gives us her potted solid working class stock biography and then patronisingly dismisses idealism as a luxury of ill-informed youth, and promotes its replacement with real grown up (“I only said it to get votes” ) politics. Corbyn is derided for not being charismatic, not a “real” politician. Haven't we had enough of the likes of “Believe me, I'm Blair”, hug-a-hoodie Cameron, or buds in May? They promise the values of fairness and respect espoused by Corbyn, (including concern for political prisoners I would hope), but then they deliver another version of the same old “real” politics, which maintains establishment interests – and their own.

Most positive social progress follows idealistic vision, fought for against the establishment – including feminism, JSP.

Nic Haughton
Address withheld

When I was much younger I used to enjoy mickey taking at Janet Street-Porter's expense. Then, in later years, I began to appreciate her views. Now, reading her column in the Daily Edition, I find I usually agree with everything she says. Good heavens, have I matured?

John Watson
Bingham, Nottinghamshire