There’s one thing we can all agree on when it comes to Brexit

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Brexit Secretary David Davis (Reuters)

The latest government catchphrase “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” is one you will soon get sick of. We have a country that is falling apart at the seams. A health service that just can’t cope; a care system not fit for purpose; an education system where teachers “beg” for basics from the parents; a transport system, overcrowded and overpriced; and a Treasury where the boss’s only role is to fuel the pens of cartoonists. The one thing I think we may all agree on is what a shambolic bunch of human beings are in charge of this country and our futures. Merry Christmas.

David Higgins
Somerset

Jerusalem

President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the US Embassy go against every UN resolution, and the beliefs of every European state as well as the Arab countries he has been trying to cultivate these last six months or more.

This one-sided decision will release a pent-up fury, where Britain has a lot to answer for. We held the mandate, promised the Palestinians their rights, but abandoned them.

To assuage the fury, the least the UK could do is to recognise a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. After the Liberal Democrats changed their policy at the last conference, there is now a majority for such a move. Done urgently and we might cool the situation. I believe most EU countries would follow suit.

Peter Downey
Address supplied

No defence

In politics it is usually what is not said that is more important than what is, and so it is with Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson’s statement that “dead terrorists can’t cause any harm to Britain” and belief that no terrorist “should ever be allowed back into this country”.

Williamson has nothing to say about the reportedly 425 Britons who have already returned home out of the estimated 850 Britons who fought for Isis. Realistically, we would need criminal-standard evidence to take action against the returnees, assuming there was the will to do so.

His belief that no terrorist should ever be allowed to return is just that – a belief; it is not government policy. Nor is it easy to see how such a policy could be implemented without revoking British citizenship, which would inevitably lead to court challenges and again problems of evidence.

Of course, it is not just in the sphere of counter-terrorism that the Government strives to give the illusion of security. Our already-inadequate armed forces are being asked to make further cuts to both manpower and equipment. All too many of the navy’s ships are tied up in port and not fit to fight. Also, a question mark hangs over the future of our two amphibious assault ships.

I can only conclude that the decline of our armed forces and of our security will continue under the grandstanding new Defence Secretary.

Otto Inglis
Edinburgh

I write with regard to Gavin Williamson’s predictably compensatory, macho comments about hunting/killing terrorists.

Perhaps our out-of-nowhere, got-no-defence-experience Defence Secretary Gav could send his pet spider after the naughty men?

Amanda Baker
Edinburgh

Impact Assessments

Jumping off a bridge is undoubtedly risky. Unless bent on self-destruction, it is surely prudent to assess the height of the bridge and the depth of water beneath.

Richard Greenwood
Bewdley