Letters: Xenophobia drowns out facts on Europe

The following letters appear in the 2nd February edition of the Independent

The Mayor wants to merge the districts that cover the central right bank and islands of the Seine (Getty)

Hugo Dixon (“The Remain Campaign has the strongest suit”, 28 January) is deluded if he thinks the facts will do anything to disperse the fog of xenophobia which seems to have engulfed this island.

Fear of the “other “ means that Syrian refugees and eastern European workers are lumped together in the public mind, along with many groups with different cultures and skin colours who have nothing to do with the European Union.

One of my nicest neighbours, returning from a journey made tedious by traffic jams caused by the highway authority’s road works, exclaimed “There are too many people in this country; that’s why I’m voting Out”.

I live in the country, and am involved in equestrian sport along with a group of delightfully down-to-earth colleagues, middle-aged, middle-of-the road, with middling incomes, who are all mildly hostile to anything outside Britain and resolutely refuse to accept that they are Europeans living in a country that is part of Europe. They feel threatened by cross-border co-operation, seeing only the loss of ability to act independently, and ignoring the additional support and security.

This self-destructive isolationism seems to be on the increase. The unfortunate Lord Rose has himself been accused of relying too much on facts and not enough on emotion. Loyal Tory peer as he is, he is surely entitled to feel a bit miffed at being compared unfavourably to a Prime Minister who, it seems to be generally agreed, is guilty of subordinating the interests of his country to those of his party and whose considerable rhetorical powers would not be needed at all if he hadn’t got us into this mess in the first place.

Janet Watson

Topcroft, Norfolk

The more I learn about the European Union and the principal treaties – Rome, Lisbon, Maastricht – the more I wonder about the mentality of the UK Government over the past 55 years.

By the end of 1996 we had five “opt-out” conditions:

1) The Schengen Agreement, but with “opt-in” on a case-by-case basis (a strange one that).

2) Economic and Monetary Union; in which case why is our PM trying to get sterling recognised as an “official” currency?

3) Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; why then can someone claim entry into the UK on the basis of “human rights”?

4) Area of Freedom, Security and Justice; (with “opt-in” on a case-by-case basis, another odd one).

5) The Social Chapter. The first act of Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1997 was to abolish the opt-out.

I have the feeling that many of our hard won “opt-outs” have been abolished or abandoned over the years, but without telling us. We are being guided slowly but very firmly, like a flock of sheep ignorant of their fate, into a super-state. This is not what our fathers and grandfathers fought and died to achieve.

Peace between sovereign nations can exist, even with a little occasional petulance, without the need for an oppressive and dictatorial super-government.

D M Loxley

Hartoft, North Yorkshire

Until I read your report “Embassies around Europe enlist expatriate vote” (30 January) I was among the many unaware of the possibility that expatriates could vote in the forthcoming referendum. It’s not that I didn’t care: I do care very much but didn’t know how to find out.

So it’s a relief to see that British expatriates living in Europe will be allowed to vote. After all, we have probably the most at stake. To lose the right to continue to live in your home is quite something.

But why is the eligibility to vote restricted to those who have lived abroad for less than 15 years? Why is there any restriction to eligibility at all? I have lived in Europe, first in the Netherlands and now in France, for the past 33 years. If the UK votes to leave, I will suffer just as much as, if not more than, somebody who has only been away for a few years.

Richard Francis

La Romieu, France

Cancer drug approved after a year’s delay

We are delighted that Nice has published final guidance recommending olaparib for some NHS patients and welcome the flexibility shown within the constraints of the current system. The result of British science, olaparib is the first targeted treatment for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer.

However, 10 per cent of women for whom olaparib is designed will still be denied access. It took a year for Nice to make its decision and it will still be another three months before NHS England plans to make olaparib available for patients. This is a considerable amount of time for a group of women whose average life expectancy is 24 months, exemplifying the need to reform the UK’s medicines assessment framework.

While recent proposals to improve the Cancer Drugs Fund are welcomed, Government needs to step up efforts in accelerating access to innovative medicines, including reform of Nice methods allowing it to approve more cancer treatments.

UK cancer outcomes continue to be among the worst in Western Europe; lessons should be learnt from olaparib to ensure we do not fall farther behind.

Dr Mene Pangalos

Executive Vice President, AstraZeneca

Prof Jonathan Ledermann

Clinical Director, UCL Cancer Institute

Prof Paul Workman

Chief Executive, Institute of Cancer Research, London

Prof Stephen P Jackson

University of Cambridge

Dr Rebecca Kristeleit

Consultant Medical Oncologist, UCL

Dr Yvette Drew

Northern Centre for Cancer Care, Newcastle

Natalie Percival

President, National Forum of Gynaecological Oncology Nurses (NFGON)

Dr Tracie Miles

Research and Development Officer, NFGON

Life enriched by Andy Murray

I agree with Matthew Norman’s views on Andy Murray (Voices, 1 February). Having spent the past fortnight 12,000 miles away from home to watch a boy for whom I have quasi-maternal feelings, I would like to add the following:

Yes, I hoped, against all the odds, that he would win.

Yes, I grieved when he didn’t, but rejoiced that he was able to catch a late-night flight home to be with his wife for the birth of their child.

We have become a nation of curmudgeons when we can no longer recognise excellence in whatever form it takes, and instead expect robot-like superiority from our heroes at all times. Life isn’t like that.

May entire pantheons of gods and goddesses bless you, Andy and Kim, and may the delivery of your child be safe and trouble-free. Thank you for enriching our lives.

Katherine Scholfield

London W8

Further to your objection to George Osborne in his hi-vis jacket (Letter from the Editor, 30 January) may I mention the photographs of Andy Murray? Always that absurd angry face. He puts me in mind of King Kong. I thought sportsmen were meant to be competitive but good-humoured.

David Ashton

Shipbourne, Kent

Accident victims don’t need pictures

I don’t know whether to feel anger, despair or disbelief that people who were on scene when two people were trapped in their car by a fallen tree chose to start filming rather than assist directly.

Perhaps a change in law is required to make it a legal requirement for people to help others in distress, as is the case in many European and non-European countries.

Paul Watson

Kingscott, Devon

The only way to tax Google

Is not the obvious solution to the avoidance of tax, on the part of internet companies, for the Chancellor to make all internet advertising a non-deductible expense for corporation tax purposes (in the same way that many years ago entertaining expenses became non-deductible)?

That way the sponsors of the advertising would pay the tax, and the Googles and Facebooks of this world would have to structure their fees accordingly. I fear that is the only way that the Exchequer is ever likely to see any of this money.

C R Sexton FCMA (retired)

Crowthorne, Berkshire

If prominent tax-avoiding companies were instead engaged in social security fraud, the Conservatives would have angrily announced a plethora of major crack-downs by now, and no effort or expense would have been spared to find and punish those found guilty of such dishonesty.

Pete Dorey

Bath

Cancer is an illness, not an enemy

The media reporting of the deaths of David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Rene Angelil does them a grave disservice. They did not “lose the battle” against cancer, with all the implications of failure, weakness and defeat. Like others who succumb to terminal illnesses, I am sure they lived their last days with courage, fortitude, dignity and acceptance of the sad inevitable.

Dr Tim Rubidge

Salisbury