Letters: June 29, 2016

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Trading with Eskimos

BRITAIN has done it now and left the EU and set a path for the unknown.

However, they are not the first as Greenland, which has a population of 57,000 which is hardly enough to fill a premier league football stadium did it back in 1985.

Although it may be a bit ambiguous to say that Greenland was the first nation to turn its back on the EU primarily because it is in actual fact a Danish protectorate, it was certainly the first country to do so.

This raises a very interesting thought, which is that if our country fails to find enough countries that want to trade with us, we could always make a solidarity trading pact with the Greenland Eskimos.

This may not be as strange as it sounds.

For at least three years now the sunspot activity at its maxima during the 11-year cycle has been extraordinarily low, with the last occurrence going back to the 1800s.

This coincided with bitter winters and “frost fairs” that were regularly held on a frozen River Thames. Recently there have been several sustained periods where sunspots have been totally missing from the surface, which causes concern to the scientific community, who fear that this could lead to a repeat of a Maunder minimum as last occurred in the 1800s.

If we make a trading pact with Greenland and the worst comes to the worst with regular winters akin to 1962/63 becoming the norm, we could invite the Eskimos over to solve our housing shortage as they do an excellent line in igloos I believe.

No need to worry about lack of food in the shops now that we have left the EU as our new trading partners would be able to supply us copious amounts of seal blubber, so as to chew the fat over our recent decision to leave the biggest trading block on the planet.

We will, of course, no longer need the French to build us a new nuclear power station at Hinckley Point, as we can now say NON! to their Gallic petulant on/off attitude to the deal as we can now rely upon our new trading partners to supply us with seal oil to burn in lamps to light our new housing stock.

Yes, this will light our new abodes you may say, but how are we to keep warm?

This is not really a problem as we can all huddle together and rub noses in a spirit of “free love” just as Nanook of the North has been doing for generations.

Now that our fisherman will again be allowed to catch fish we could reciprocate our trade with the Eskimos by selling them the surplus.

Finally, on a more serious note my family and I voted to remain in the EU simply because, like many others, we were fearful of the consequences of leaving.

I fear the so-called “grey vote” may well have spoiled the future for my offspring and also for generations in this country yet to come.

The canny Scots and the Irish of course voted en-masse to remain and so maybe we weren’t so much of a United Kingdom as we thought we were.

G A WOODWARD

Nelson Street

Swindon

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Strong leader needed

CONGRATULATIONS to all those wise men and women of Swindon who voted to leave the EU.

David Cameron has done the right thing by resigning, and so should his history graduate friend George Osborne, masquerading as an economist.

There are a huge number of businesses who have been hiding behind the EU system of tax avoidance who are the very lot who have been cheating George Osborne out of billions.

And it is these powerful people who have hoodwinked the ordinary people of our country to vote Remain.

Other loopholes such as sending £30m to EU families for child benefits each year was just another example of the abuse of our precious resources.

There are 80,000 pieces of EU legislation which has been responsible for the stranglehold they have unleashed upon us, from which we need to untangle ourselves (for obvious legal reasons).

So we now need a strong leader and an equally strong cabinet team to get us out of the complex mess the EU bureaucracy has got us into.

But I am certain we, as the strongest historical business nation in the world, will soon be returned to an Independent trading force.

No thanks to all those weak-minded Remainers who want to be tied to a bunch of basket case nations who will soon be written off as failures in the truest sense of the word.

Lastly, I am sure the Queen will be relieved that she has now officially been given her sovereign rights back, having lost it when Gordon Brown inadvertently signed off the Lisbon Treaty without her official approval.

IAN HUNT

Hill View Road, Swindon

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Time to build bridges

IT SEEMS increasingly likely that, as a result of the referendum vote, goods including food and clothing will rise in price in the UK, while the incomes and employment prospects of many will significantly diminish; I have heard that this is already happening.

The social and environmental movement Transition Towns, seeks to build resilience into communities in the face of almost unstoppable climate change and the lower-carbon economy that will supersede our fossil-fuel-dominated one whether we wish it or no.

The principles of sharing skills, developing local food production, increasing community connections, reducing fossil fuel dependency, minimising waste (particularly of food) and relocalising services, will serve us well now.

The toxic national debate completely neglected the environment – a shameful omission.

Much good work was done in the EU since, “I will if you will” can propel a group to act better together than they would have alone.

Well, now we will have to use all our creativity and courage to build communities in the face of an uncertain future, without having to face a natural disaster or an epidemic – whatever happens next, people did it.

Addressing waste, local food, and sharing practical skills will be more important than ever.

As a Green and European I am desperately saddened by the result.

It’s clear that, given an absence of genuine political engagement and respectful communication, gross inequality of opportunity and choice, and the long-standing Governmental habit of using the EU as a scapegoat for every ill, an apparent majority of the country never saw the benefits, opportunities and safeguards that the EU gave us. They only saw a faceless, distant and undemocratic bureaucracy.

The angry and the unlistened-to weren’t benefitting from the European club, and when everything’s bad, one believes that any change will be for the better.

It’s easy to be angry. I am angry. But I won’t take my anger out on my neighbours and friends, because we still are neighbours, and we are still friends, and if we don’t start building bridges – or at least stop blowing them up – this simmering undeclared civil war between sides will leave all of us the poorer, the sadder, and the bloodier.

TALIS KIMBERLEY-FAIRBOURN

Member of Swindon Area Green Party

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Unsavoury bedfellows

THE EDL, Britain First, Pegida, the BNP and far right, racist, hate-filled groups across the country are celebrating Brexit.

Leave would not have won without the votes of these groups so I will not rejoice in this “success for democracy.”

I have no doubt that the majority of leave voters are good, decent people but please, before celebrating too long and hard, think about your bedfellows who got you “your country back.”

I cannot share Justin Tomlinson’s optimism for the future when we now live in a divided, soon to be broken up nation where the young are dealt a future they categorically did not want and where groups that preach hatred wield such influence.

NICK PERRY

Covingham, Swindon

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Difficult times ahead

I SEE now the vote to leave the EU has been been confirmed, many of the Remain people are throwing their toys out of the pram.

Younger ones are saying, “It’s the oldies who have voted us out.”

Well, if I remember correctly, it was mostly the younger generation who voted this country into the EU in the first place.

Someone will no doubt tell me I am wrong but, do I care, not a jot, that is my opinion!!

It was a dirty campaign with the Remain camp trying to frighten people into voting.

It looks like Scotland can’t abide by a decision either. It’s no good trying to make rules after the event and it is up to us all to try to make this country better for us. David Cameron has announced his resignation. Who cares? There will be difficult times ahead and there will be those in the banking world saying how grave it is.

In addition, when the pound goes down on the stock market, that is when lots of speculators make money – that was told to me by a stock market trader, and we know what problems they cause.

We all need to work together now.

CHRIS GLEED

Proud Close, Purton

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UKIP’s knockout

UKIP is the little party with the knockout punch. There are five major parties in the Westminster Parliament and they all supported the EU. UKIP has just one MP, Douglas Carswell. His anti-EU views were supported by only a few rebel MPs, mostly from the Conservative Party.

When it came to the referendum the voters decided UKIP was the only party that had been telling the truth about EU.

The UKIP view of the EU was supported on polling day by the overwhelming majority of the voters.

STEVE HALDEN

Beaufort Green, Swindon

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Shame on you

SO OUR beloved council are making another round of cuts to services (buses and Dial A Ride) to save money. And then you read in the Adver on June 22 that councillors may get a hike in cash. Have they no shame? What does the council leader do to warrant an annual allowance of £32,880?

I thought we were all in it together.

It’s disgusting this council cuts services and then gets a rise.

L TOWNSEND

Redcliffe Street, Swindon