John Bolton will make us sign away any remaining vestiges of our once proud nation’s integrity

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Matthew Norman’s piece on the chilling reality of John Bolton’s visit to the UK should certainly be ringing some serious alarm bells in the corridors of power, if not the sensibilities of all decent, right-thinking citizens.

It is looking increasingly likely that I have Boris Johnson and his largely right-wing cabinet to thank for disabusing me of my remaining delusions about the real status of the UK.

In the late 1960s, when I was becoming aware of the intricacies of world politics, I remember watching a Panorama documentary that was allowed a glimpse into the highly secretive world of China.

Of the many unusual insights into a culture that was so different from my own was that of a huge parade ground. It was populated by primary school children. Before the start of the school day, a series of physical exercises, executed in precise unison by the equally spaced youngsters were enacted. As the loudspeaker announcements reminded the gathering of the physical stance to be adopted, various chants were encouraged to exercise their lungs and vocal chords. One of them, in a quote translated to the viewers, shocked my burgeoning sensibilities: “Death to the imperialist United States of America, and all her running dogs!”

Surely, I mused, they can’t mean us. (Although I was then unable to encapsulate that thought into the viewpoint, that we were surely a proud, independent and completely autonomous nation. It offended my perceptions of Great Britain as a benign, open, “friendly” sovereign state). I was aware that we had declined to assist America in what we now understand to be a disastrous foray into Vietnam. I also understood, in an instant, the justifications for maintaining and updating our armed forces.

However, the vulnerabilities that we are as a nation are now being exposed to due to the folly of Brexit, are, or should be, only too clear. As Norman’s article clearly stated, our once largely admired and appreciated foreign policy, if not the soul of the nation, is to be sacrificed on the altar of a no-deal Brexit. Chillingly, with echoes of the early tactics of the Third Reich, anyone daring to challenge the wisdom of these obvious realities, is rebuffed with the rebuttal that it’s another example of what is known as “project fear”.

Forget the “Let’s give £350m a week to the NHS”, the even bigger and potentially even more serious lie was the pernicious soundbite, “taking back control”.

The arrival of the US national security adviser John Bolton in London, declaring the most isolationist US regime in living memory would “enthusiastically” support a no-deal Brexit, should be a major cause of concern to many.

The UK is a weakened country, desperate for a trade deal and in no position to refuse Donald Trump’s demands not just to lower our stringent standards but those on our foreign policy too.

All trade negotiations naturally involve both sides trying to re-engineer things to their own advantage, of course. Risks, however, are heightened for small countries negotiating with bigger and more powerful ones – one reason EU countries banded together to do trade deals in the first place – and this time, big foreign policy as well as economic principles are at stake.

It is highly unlikely that issues like the Iran nuclear deal (which the US would like us to follow them in walking away from) or contracts with the Chinese tech firm Huawei will be left until “after Brexit”. There is likely to be early pressure too, to ditch practices that inconvenience American companies, such as the planned digital-services tax that targets tech giants.

It is no surprise that the White House actively favours a chaotic divorce between Britain and its European allies. So weakened is the UK that our foreign policy will soon be decided by diktat from Washington, even more so than it currently is.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

New trade partners

In its commitment to building a prosperous country after a no-deal Brexit, the government seems to have pinned its hopes on a new trade nexus to replace the existing one with the EU. This may seem plausible on paper, but overlooks the woefully too common divergence between theory and practice which no doubt has been pointed out by government economic advisers.

On paper, changeover of trade partners seems easy enough. In practice, remoulding UK’s trade relations requires fundamental restructuring of the entire economy which, assuming that the operation is well planned and effectively carried out by all partners, takes more than the lifetimes of a couple of administrations and involves enormous economic and social costs. Responsible decision-making ought to take these costs into account against expected benefits, if any.

Hamid Elyassi
London E14

Tom Watson for Labour leader

Is it time for Jeremy Corbyn to hand over the Labour Party to Tom Watson?

Let’s face it, Corbyn is definitely a big part of the problem when it comes to Brexit.

Brexit is a much bigger issue than the party or personal ambitions of individuals. Watson is the one making the right noises for the job, in line with the majority of the party.

Corbyn, in contrast, is driving voters and members away in their droves through inaction and barmy policies.

Michael Cunliffe
Ilkley

Brexit from a child’s perspective

Dr Alan Channer’s conversation with a child (Letters, Tuesday 13 August) has provided a clearer and more succinct interpretation of the current Brexit crisis than all the many “expert analyses” I have read up until now. Congratulations!

Jean Foster
Selkirk

Shopping bags

We still use on a weekly basis three “non-woven polypropylene” bags made in China that we obtained in the US many years ago. One of them is dated: US Census 2010; the others are from Piggly Wiggly and Publix supermarkets.

If they are all nine years old, they will altogether have been used about 1,350 times, saving that number of single-use plastic bags. No “bag-for-life” from a British supermarket could last that long.

The US is always rightly condemned for its profligate use of energy and resources, yet here it was, and maybe still is, getting it right for once.

Leon Williams
St Margaret’s Bay