THE suggestion by Ruth Davidson that Brexit with result in a short-term hit which may then become economically chronic seems to me to be without hard evidence and unhelpful at this time (“Davidson’s Brexit fear is UK dip ‘then we do not bounce back’”, The Herald September 7).
As a politician she should perhaps recognise that since we signed the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 with 11 other members of the then European Community (EC) things have changed radically in both UK and EU perceptions of global influences. I consider that the EU has gradually deluded itself in the 25 years since the signing into imagining it is the natural inheritor of the place once held by the Holy Roman Empire in Europe.
I feel the challenge for Brexit Secretary David Davis is to win the verbal war of imperial succession, as it appears to me to be in the interests of the EU that the UK will weaken if not indeed fail; though they publicly deny it. The reason being that if the UK is seen to flourish and boom after the divorce settlement then other EU members will consider following us once they know what happens in the separation process. In the case of France or Germany I suspect their departure would result in the collapse of the EU, as a number of the 16 countries which joined the EU after the Maastricht Treaty signing have barely two euros to rub together.
Any fanciful talk round the Brexit table about returning to some form of regime similar to our previous European Community membership and without contentious strings such as free movement of people, seems to me implausible. If it was a realistic possibility then it should have been a third option on the 2016 referendum voting paper.
Ms Davidson should accept that Brexit really does mean Brexit and encourage our captains of industry and commerce to prepare to hit the new road running and selling.
Bill Brown,
46 Breadie Drive, Milngavie.
RATHER than criticise her boss's disastrous Brexit policies, Ruth Davidson is quoted as saying: "My real fear is that if there is a short-term economic hit, we don't bounce back from it."
Is that not what most folk would call a long-term economic hit?
David Hay,
12 Victoria Park, Minard.
ONCE again Richard Mowbray (Letters, September 6) errs in his vilification of the EU. To clarify, in exchange for being a net contributor the UK gains free access to the markets of established or emerging less well-off member states; within an agreed framework; and on the UK’s doorstep – a quid prop quo similar to parents being net contributors to their children’s welfare and wellbeing; raising, hopefully, a generation of well-adjusted human beings who in turn will use their parents’ non-repayable net contribution for the greater good of the community. Also, the value of the UK’s net contribution Mr Mowbray keeps going on about will only be truly known when the UK leaves the EU and compares it with the new bilateral single deals the UK will need to enter into – these deals will come at a price; a price Mr Mowbray’s economic knowledge, however vast, has no way of establishing in advance. I appreciate it is complicated though.
No “divorce bill” has been agreed. It is all hearsay, conjectures, rumours and mischievous drive, something RMr Mowbray should see through. The “divorce bill”, once agreed, however, will pale into insignificance when compared with the other issues that will undoubtedly arise – the issues we know of as well as issues no one, including Mr Mowbray, can foresee.
P Fabien,
41 Kingsborough Gardens, Glasgow.
SO the Remainers are silent on how much "ransom money” the UK should pay to the EU, according to Richard Mowbray. He has it the wrong way round. It is the Brexiters who have landed us with this bill. After all it’s what they voted for.
It is they who stay silent on the falling pound. Immediately after the Sunderland by-election vote the pound took a tumble and has never recovered. Before the Brexit vote the pound was worth one €1.31. It is now headed for €1 to the pound.
The Brexiters claim they know exactly what they were voting for. Did they really vote to devalue our currency? Maybe they could tell us how much further the pound will fall. After all, they are taking back control. The truth is they do not control anything. The speculators will decide if the pound is to crash further and the Brexiters can’t do a thing about it.
Myra Gartshore,
16 Barloan Place, Dumbarton.
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