The Liberal Democrats want nothing more than to airbrush Brexit out of history

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

The “Liberal Democrats” wish to nullify the democratic result of the 2016 referendum: to “airbrush” the result out of history.

In proposing this, the “Liberal Democrats” do not simply contest the Brexit struggle to recover national sovereignty and home-rule; they wish to crush democracy itself, because it fails to deliver their cause.

If this doesn’t take us to the streets, then frankly we have lost our moral compass as a nation.

Alan Stedall​
Sutton Coldfield

One in a million

I was delighted to be one of the million on the march this month.

The whole event was splendid, particularly the cheer when Oliver Letwin’s amendment was passed. I really just wanted to thank this newspaper for its work and continued support for the People’s Vote movement. Hopefully you will get a wonderful write up in the history books.

Our little group are all 60-plus, proud Europeans and British.

We want a vote about our future which is based on unquestionable facts.

Joan Martin
Leighton Buzzard

Refugees are human beings in need

The European parliament’s vote against improving rescue and search for refugees in the Mediterranean is a grim reminder of the moral depravity it has sunk into.

Refugees are not wallowing for pity, waiting for handouts. They are not mere statistics. They are men, women and children who have been compelled to flee their home countries in search of safety and have known nothing but war, poverty, trauma, displacement and devastation.

I just wonder what would happen if European countries received a quarter of what countries like Jordan or Lebanon had where one in seven is a refugee and where 90 per cent of refugees reside within host communities with enormous strains on public resources, infrastructures and social and health services.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob​
London NW2

Big oil interests

The US is going to bolster its military presence in northeastern Syria to deny Isis “and others” (ie the Assad government) access to the oil fields there. Trump has boasted about holding the oil fields and talked about sending in US companies to take them over. Those oil fields belong to Syria, whose people are food insecure and desperately need to start the work of reconstruction in their country.

The US army should leave Syria now, and the severe sanctions enforced by the US and EU should end.

Brendan O’Brien
London N21

They are just like us

How refreshing it was to read David Lowndes’ letter (Only a Final Say can heal our terrible division). I was, however, horrified by the results of the survey about “the price worth paying” which suggested a staggering number of leave and remain voters would be willing to accept acts of violence against politicians and the collateral injuries to members of the public from violent mass protests.

This takes us to a level I never thought I would hear in our supposedly tolerant country.

I would just like to remind everyone that politicians are only ordinary human beings, with families, the same as the rest of us. Most are hard-working and well-intentioned and deserve our thanks for their continued efforts to find a way through this awful mess, whilst not allowing themselves to be bullied by this truly awful government. We need them.

Hazel Pratt
Leamington Spa

A defence of those who were here first

I refer to your report by Phoebe Weston regarding invasive species.

I am getting tired of the same old rhetoric being trotted out about grey squirrels (and indeed the Muntjac deer) in particular. If people were bothered to find out facts other than those constantly being peddled by so-called red squirrel lovers, they would find that the grey squirrel has been in the UK for over 150 years (as has the Muntjac deer) yet is considered invasive.

They would understand that red squirrels were culled almost to extinction until the 1950s by farmers who were paid a penny a tail. They would see that the red squirrel’s habitat is rare at best in the UK, and non-existent across much of it. They would also find out that the majority of red squirrels we have now are introduced from Scandinavia (a bit of a man-made neo-invasion wouldn’t you say). They would have to consider that a major source of squirrel pox is red squirrel feeding stations – man-made areas which are a haven for dirt and disease. Oh, and they must not forget that red squirrels are also rodents so they have the same habits as other rodentia (including the grey squirrel). And they would have a lot less trees if it weren’t for the grey squirrel because of their food habits.

Presumably, climate change has absolutely nothing to do with human activity and therefore it’s a lot easier to vilify these “invaders” than to actually address the problems that climate change is bringing upon the world in the first place. And I fail to understand how creatures, such as the rabbit and pheasant, that have been here since Roman times can be classed as invasive anyway. I think you’ll find that humans have inflicted infinitely greater harm on the world than these animals could ever achieve.

Perhaps a bit more balanced, logical and, dare I say, kinder thinking is in order. There is always more than one side to any story if someone is willing enough to look.

Tracy Battensby​
North Yorkshire