Carpe suffragium

I am a French European, not a British one. My synthesis is that European government is flawed, not democratic, closer to big interests than to its people. I do not think it is viable on a long term basis.

I envy the British who have the opportunity to maximise their long term future (not only quantitative but also existential (I could develop). I voted against the European constitution, and I would like to vote against the present European power. I want the united market, nothing more, and I am surprised that so many intelligent Brits do not share my perception.

It is true there is a short term risk, but big decision are always qualitative, on values, and not quantitative, based on dubious data.

Bruno Cormouls, Mazamet, France

Iain Martin’s first reaction in Back of the queue? With respect, Barack Obama can get stuffed – that the Leave supporters should have “taken the day off” when Obama came – was the right one. If they’d kept their mouths shut, or limited the response to a smile and “President Obama has a right to his view and we have to ours” it is quite possible that the headline would have been “Obama says get to the back of the queue” and it would have done Remain more harm than good.

As it is, we have had a spectacle of people who have been telling us that Britain can cut a better deal with the US on our own attacking the American President; and people who have been at pains to say that wanting to leave the EU does not mean being anti-Europe or anti-foreigner, then demonstrating that they can lose their temper with friends on the other side of the Atlantic as easily as with those on the other side of the Channel. None of which has made them or their arguments look better.

Chris Whiteside , Whitehaven, UK     |    @ChrisWhiteside3

Incompetent administration vs. absolutionism

Britain’s political class risks losing the authority to govern is a very astute review by Robert Salisbury of the crisis of government in this country. As a lifelong Conservative voter, I am driven to despair by their administrative incompetence.

A complacent elite understaffed the Border Force, leading to the massive expense of the social upheaval of uncontrolled immigration. Who gave freedom to schools but installed instead management even more dodgy than local government, facilitating the takeover of education by religions. Who are too blind to see that doctors are now much too well paid to play their traditional role as workhorses of the NHS and that a new personnel structure is needed. Who have made the national police force something mainly pretend, like the performance statistics that they concentrate on producing.

And the Opposition is still the absolutist, politically correct contrivance of Blair, propelled by 24 hour news style strident hysteria. We have no course but to vote against the lot of them.

David Barfield , Greater Manchester, UK

That clean sheet feeling

I refer to Let’s have an honest debate about encryption by Evan Swarztrauber.

I have worked in a related area, and the point that everybody is missing is that it is not all that difficult to dream up one’s own encryption system. Cracking it is very much a matter of having a fairly large sample, so the obvious antidote is to use “one-time pads” [actually it is the sheets within the pads that are one-time] so as to keep the sample small. If you need to send a long message use two or more sheets.

Net result: the really bad guys – ISIS and the drug barons – will be able to carry on sending their messages securely, while The Little Guy is inconvenienced.

Bill, Surrey, UK

Toxic love

59% of Americans think we Brits should not “go to the back of the queue” – and 55% think we are your best friend. We’ll second that, this side of the pond. We have loved, laughed, quarrelled, cried, defended honour and often died, shoulder to shoulder.

Obama’s comments could have cost you the only friend you have in Europe. But he’ll be gone in a few months, as will Cameron. We will have broken free from a political union which we never asked for, and in which there is only one name on the ballot sheets. And normal service will be resumed.

Sending love to all those as yet uninfected by the NWO disease. They are trying to build and empire – and all empires fall.

We’ll see you on the other side. You bring brownies, and we’ll put the kettle on.

Mandy Baldwin , Isle Of Wight, UK

The author of The Supreme Court – not politicians – should decide on transgender rights does not understand how our system is suppose to work.

The Supreme Court should only be dealing with matters in which:

1- the federal government has clear authority based upon the written Constitution, and

2- issues in which the States have supposedly restricted or harmed citizens constitutional rights.

The fact is, that unlike racial discrimination which is clearly banned by our Constitution, there is no mention of transgender rights in our Constitution and therefore has nothing whatsoever to do with the Supreme Court. All powers not specifically delegated to the fed govt are thereby reserved to the States and the people. This is obviously a State issue.

Most uninformed people seem to believe that the USA is a homogeneous system of laws across the entire country which is absolutely wrong. In actuality, each State is to be run according to the wishes of 51% of its population with the only caveats being that they may not infringe upon their citizens’ natural rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights or their rights as citizens (voting).

Understand that the Constitution may be changed at any time with enough votes to create an amendment, but no changes may be made via judicial fiat, which is what has been happening in America for quite some time.

Therefore, while our system is broken in that bureaucrats and judges have been creating “law” (really non-laws), the fundamental truth of our system has not changed at all. Any “law” created by these these two entities is a usurpation of power. That is how our system is suppose to work.

Vin B, New Jersey, USA

As you don't like it

I didn’t particularly like Shakespeare when I studied Macbeth and Hamlet at school but now that I am 70 I appreciate his words and the cleverness with which he put them together.

(see How like a god: Shakespeare and the invention of the world)

There is a move afoot to remove Shakespeare from some schools because some see offence in what he wrote. I hope the move fails because to lose him in our youth means he is probably lost forever to be replaced with what? Some second or third stringer who only publishes thanks to an accepted ideology and taxpayer largesse.

Lawrie Ayres , New South Wales, Australia