Letters - 08 July 2016
From the EU referendum to a shared language
EU referendum
I have been a Quaker for twenty-four years and I voted ‘Leave’.
It was not about money – millions, billions and trillions are just words to me – nor immigration, which I see as unavoidable. What bothered me was that EU laws override UK laws.
Laws affecting British citizens should not be made by foreigners whom we did not elect and cannot sack.
Laurence Ambrose
‘We must accept the will of the people.’ We heard this from leaders on all sides following the referendum vote, and it’s clearly an essential feature of our democracy. But how far is it compromised when the people have been given lies on a large scale and promises which cannot be fulfilled? I believe our country needs to address this question in depth in the coming years.
One small beginning might be to look at the moral code of the speech writers and publicity agencies serving our political leaders. There has been progress recently in challenging financial institutions and business tycoons who have put private gain before the public good. Could we challenge the propaganda industry, too, to examine its professional ethics, and say no when they are asked to sugarcoat falsehoods?
John Lampen
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