Voting not to suspend Lord Lester is despicable – and another good reason to scrap the House of Lords

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Lord Lester’s suspension was overturned by a vote in the House of Lords (Parliament)

If the House of Lords can’t see the injustice of what they have done in respect of the Lord Lester inquiry, and reverse their decision, then it adds to the argument that they must be replaced. An old boys’ club meting out “justice” to suit their friends should be anathema to all decent people.

Arthur Streatfield
Bath

As an active member of the Lib Dems, I am beyond disgusted that the House of Lords has voted not to suspend Lord Lester – and it would appear that the party has still not learned the lessons of the Rennard debacle.

I am even more appalled that members of our party in the Lords voted against the suspension, even if his membership of the party is currently suspended.

It is absolutely hypocritical for the Liberal Democrats to claim that we fight for equality and want more women MPs and councillors when our peers act in this fashion. Peers who voted to retain the privileges of Lord Lester should have the whip withdrawn. Nothing else will do.

Chris Key
Address Supplied

Thousands are dying in wars now – let’s remember them too

When I was younger I idolised the medic in war films running to save a fallen comrade or rescue an innocent civilian. I wanted to be that hero, to rescue people, to make a difference, and so I joined the Royal Army Medical Corp (RAMC) as a combat medic. I had the privilege to work with the 16 Close Support Medical Regiment and the 2nd Parachute Regiment, and as well as operational tours I got to go on battlefield trips learning the history of the RAMC.

In Afghanistan I realised quickly that war is never about good v evil, it is often under the pretence of religion, idealism, honour, but is actually about resources, power and profit. War is in fact only about one thing – people dying, not just soldiers but men, women and children, all victims of greed. How else do you explain the UK’s weapons deals with countries known to abuse the human rights of millions.

This Remembrance Day was the 100 year anniversary of the end of the First World War. This was meant to be the war to end all wars; a part of history never to be repeated. Yet today we can be blissfully unaware in our somewhat narcissistic culture that there is an estimated 150,000 people dying every year from the ongoing conflicts around the world. Ethnic cleansing and armed conflict is currently happening in countries like Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, China, Colombia, the Congo, India, Indonesia, Israel, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tibet and Uganda.

So this Remembrance Day I not only thought about the soldiers of the First and Second World Wars or the friends I lost within 2 Para B company in Afghanistan, I thought of all those dying needlessly around the world and thought of ways to make a difference – I hope you did too.

Lance Corporal Liam Richard Tasker, from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, was killed by a sniper whilst deployed on operations in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Tuesday 1 March 2011. His dog Theo died from a broken heart an hour later.

Lance Corporal Kyle Cleet Marshall, from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was killed when an IED exploded while he was deployed on an operation to reassure and provide security for the population in an area in the south of the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Monday 14 February 2011.

Private Martin Simon George Bell, from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was killed by an IED explosion in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province in Afghanistan on Tuesday 25 January 2011.

I remember them.

Christopher Ward
Darlington

A message to Theresa: there’s still time to change your mind

I am truly sorry to hear you are leaving, but the people of this great land increasingly want to stay.

I keep hearing you spout the nonsense that you are following “the will of the people”, with no regard whatsoever to the fact that over one million people have now signed the Final Say petition, and you apparently have no regard whatsoever for the increasing number of opinion polls which show the ground is shifting beneath your feet.

It seems that Great Britain is being held to ransom, not by the European Union but by you and your Tory government (to be fair, I really don’t believe it would be any different if we had a Labour administration with Corbyn at the helm). You say you are following the will of the people, but this worries me deeply. I wonder why you fail to see the reality which should be fully apparent by now.

For reasons I don’t understand, when you took over as our PM you decided to accept the challenge of beginning the process of leaving the EU against your previous judgement that there was more to be lost than gained by embracing Brexit. This makes me think there are unspoken reasons why you decided to support Brexit. Reasons that you have not been honest enough to announce either in the Commons, or to the people of Britain. I don’t know about you prime minister, but I find this concept incredibly worrying, and more than just routinely dishonest.

So dear prime minister, at this 11th hour, there is still time to do what you always knew needed to be done and back away from a process which is more likely now than at any previous time to result in Britain crashing out of Europe with all the major ruinous impacts which I am sure you understood when you campaigned to remain. With the added insult of your likely replacement by an incompetent egotist and arch liar like Boris Johnson as the next prime minister.

David Curran
Feltham, west London

Brexit is an imperial mirage

It’s clear Leave campaigners believe the mess we are in is everyone’s fault but theirs, yet this shambles is the direct consequence of their Little Englander delusions.

They assumed Northern Ireland was irrelevant and that German car manufacturers would bully Brussels into giving in to the demands of imperial Britain.

After their sleazy campaign won, they treated half the nation with contempt, refused any compromises and opened up an unprecedented generational gulf in UK politics.

Worse still, they demanded a precipitous invoking of Article 50 without a clue what came next – and now the ship of state is sinking, they jump off like the rats they are.

You couldn’t make it up!

Rev Dr John Cameron
St Andrews

It’s unbelievable that the future of our country is being driven by a backstabbing powerplay between a tiny group of childlike politicians in the Conservative Party. In fact, “childlike” is the wrong word: most children behave far better. Unlike these politicians, and the strident Little Englanders who want an extreme Brexit, most people in this country are grownups – used to teamwork, loyalty and compromise.

Let’s leave this little group of spoilt kids to scream in their own corner. We don’t have to listen to them: let’s take back power and stop this Brexit nonsense now.

Dr Bob Banks
Grindleford, Derbyshire