Letters to Editors
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Letter to The Times - The Centre Ground in Politics
As sent 6 May 2012
Sir, As always, Matthew Parris’s scrutiny of the local election results (Times 5 May) contains much wisdom – but I think he is too dismissive of the concerns of “the majority of ordinary voters” and perhaps fails to draw the correct conclusion.
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Letter to the Economist - 'Save the City'
As sent 16 January 2012
Sir - You have produced an excellent, succinct analysis of the importance of the City to Britain and globally.
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Letter to the Financial Times - Get South Africa more involved in changing Zimbabwe
Published 20 October 2011
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Sir, Before the Archbishop of Canterbury went to Zimbabwe I wrote to him warning that Robert Mugabe’s one aim would be to get him to support lifting the European Union’s restrictive measures on the regime’s close circle of kleptocrats.
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Letter to the Financial Times - Defence policy is just a distraction
Published 16 June 2011
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Sir, Jolyon Howorth (Letters, June 14) quite rightly points out that European countries need to end their over-reliance on the US’s military capabilities. However, we must not confuse burden-sharing by European countries with European Union defence policy. Professor Howorth refers to the establishment of European security and defence policy (now known as CSDP) in 1998 as though Washington had somehow encouraged it. The reality is that Washington viewed it for what it is – a distraction for European countries from fulfilling their obligations under Nato. -
Letter to the Times - Liam Fox and Sri Lanka
As sent 11 October 2011
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Sir, In addition to the enormous challenges of current military operations and balancing the defence budget, Dr LiamFox has been the most robust supporter of NATO while opposing the unnecessary and wasteful distraction that is EU defence policy. And clearly he has engaged strongly with key allies - of course the United States, but also previously neglected friends in the Gulf and the Commonwealth. -
Letter to the Daily Mail - Spanish Properties
Published 1 June 2011
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Sir -- As Spain's development minister Jose Blanco launches a campaign to encourage British people to invest in Spanish property, we want to warn local residents to be extremely vigilant. -
Letter to the Financial Times - EU must stop trying to play soldiers
Published 21 June 2011
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Sir, What Jolyon Howorth omits to mention (Letters, June 17) is that, 13 years on, the European Union brings nothing to the military table except diversion of resources and unnecessary complication. Co-ordination mechanisms between the EU and Nato are now required to enable more or less the same nations to talk to themselves in different locations. -
Letter to the Telegraph - Regulations on lorry drivers' working hours harms the haulage industry
Published 1 July 2010
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SIR – In June, the European Parliament voted to include self-employed lorry drivers in the scope of a 2002 directive regulating the working time of lorry and bus drivers. This means that drivers will now be limited to working a total of 48 hours a week, including all the loading, maintenance and administrative work. Previously, self-employed drivers could spend up to 56 hours a week actually driving, so long as they drove no more than 90 hours over a two week period. -
Letter to the Telegraph - Labour's enthusiasm for mass immigration has little to do with the EU
Published 5 April 2010
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SIR – When the Labour Party came to power, it was determined to destroy "the forces of conservatism". Observing this, I used to half jokingly say that it didn't really like the British people and wanted to change them. From papers made public earlier this... -
Letter to the Times - Libya and EU
As sent 30 March 2011
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Sir, George Walden makes a good point (Times 29 March) about the EU's failure over Libya, but for goodness sake don't encourage it. The characteristic EU response is to see every crisis as an opportunity to increase its powers. I can just imagine the discussions next week in Strasbourg when there will be demands to enhance EU defence capabilities. That would be entirely the wrong conclusion to draw when Nato has well established capabilities, the US and Canada as well as 26 European nations at the table, and experience at including non-Nato nations in its missions. If appropriate, Nato could decide that Europeans lead in a particular situation. That doesn't mean EU.
eDispatch
Have you seen the results from Geoffrey's latest "Dispatch" questionnaire? 97% of respondents wanted to see a major change in Britain's EU membership...
