Letters: To help its nearest allies, Britain would be better placed outside the EU

Parliamentary sovereignty is vital to keeping us safe; tear gas in Kosovo; sugar in children's diets; Ian Fleming's spy chief; and the perils of to-do lists

A Union Flag flutters next to a European Union (EU) flag, and other flags of EU countries on Open Doors Day of the EU institutions in Brussels, Belgium
'Britain has always taken the successful position of being of Europe but not in it' Credit: Photo: Reuters

SIR – I find it difficult to reconcile Sir Nicholas Soames’s views with those of his grandfather Winston Churchill, who famously opined that Britain has always taken the successful position of being of Europe but not in it.

This does not mean that we stand idly by while our friends abroad fail to agree with each other, but rather that we put our weight behind a peaceful resolution of their differences.

We are of course much closer now to those friends on a global economic basis than in the past, but the threats to our safety and independence have, if anything, increased. To meet those threats, we need to restore full elective sovereignty to Parliament as soon as possible. The only way of doing so is to vote to leave the European Union.

David Martin
Playden, East Sussex

SIR – As Sir Nicholas Soames argues, the only way to reform the EU is from within.

The Out campaign has absolutely no idea of what may happen if we leave. We must hope that the younger generation turns out to vote on June 23, as I am sure that the majority will choose to remain in the EU.

Andrew Snowden
Crediton, Devon

SIR – A vote to stay in as a result of David Cameron’s renegotiated deal would only encourage officials in Brussels to believe that the EU needs no root-and-branch reform.

If we voted to leave, those same leaders would be forced to accept that the status quo is not an option. Reform would be inevitable – and surely that would be better, for all concerned, than the EU’s chaotic disintegration through lack of political change.

Roy Milnes
Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire

SIR – Brian Baxter asks what would become of Britons living and working in other EU countries in the event of Brexit.

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 contains articles based on “acquired rights” which individuals build up and hold despite any future changes to treaties. Under this, EU countries would be prevented from deporting migrants who entered legally under the old system. Equally, Britain would be prevented from deporting EU citizens.

“Acquired rights” were acknowledged when Greenland withdrew from the European Economic Community. Greenland citizens living in other parts of the EU retained their right to continue living there, with all the residential and legal rights that implied.

John Bell
Wrexham

SIR – Our EU partners must be delighted that the British entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in May is called You’re Not Alone (we’re in this together).

I predict a British win.

Guy Lachlan
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

Tear gas in Kosovo

Opposition lawmakers throw tear gas during a session of Kosovo's parliament in Pristina, Kosovo 08 October 2015.

SIR – Europe’s youngest country, Kosovo, celebrated the eighth anniversary of its independence this month. Its statehood is now recognised by 111 countries, and Kosovo has just signed an agreement with the EU that promises to open up trade and political links. Next month the Prince of Wales will make an official visit to the capital city of Pristina.

Yet the road has been bumpy.

Serbia and Russia still do not recognise Kosovo and have opposed its integration into the international community. Meanwhile, a minority of opposition nationalists have disrupted parliamentary sessions with tear gas in protest at the government’s agreements to normalise relations with Serbia. Specifically, they oppose an EU-brokered agreement between Kosovo and Serbia which grants autonomy to the Serb-majority communities in northern Kosovo.

We should never forget that nationalist rhetoric stoked a brutal war in Europe’s backyard less than 20 years ago. European integration and reconciliation with Serbia offers the best and only realistic future for Kosovo.

Imran Hussain MP (Lab)
Martin Vickers MP (Con)
Sir David Amess MP (Con)
Angela C Smith MP (Lab)

All Party Parliamentary Group on Kosovo
Ian Liddell-Grainger MP (Con)
London SW1

Sugar for children

SIR – You report that the Government has been accused of “failing the next generation” on its obesity strategy, while thousands of children are having decayed teeth pulled out in hospital.

Surely it is up to parents to look after their children’s health until they are old enough to choose sensible food for themselves. They should also brush their infants’ teeth, and teach them how to brush when they are old enough.

A childhood obesity strategy should be the last resort.

Monica Littleboy
Abingdon, Oxfordshire

SIR – Dr John Norris believes that a sugar tax will be ineffective, as “obese people will look elsewhere for those extra calories.”

They need only look as far as a single-portion Sweet Chilli Chicken with Rice ready meal, the nutritional information for which my daughter happened to send me last week. It contains the equivalent of six teaspoons of sugar.

Simon Olley
Sevenoaks, Kent

Fleming’s spy chief

SIR – Kingsley Amis, who wrote several letters to the Telegraph back in 1979, was quite right to ridicule the suggestion that Sir Maurice Oldfield was the model for Ian Fleming’s “M”.

The obvious candidate is surely Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence for much of the Second World War, under whom Fleming served.

Godfrey himself gave currency to this in a conversation with my grandfather, when they worked together in hospital management in the Fifties. Reminiscing about his time as DNI, he remarked: “All the time I was there, there was a chap called Fleming sitting in the corner, scribbling in an exercise book.”

Fleming was kind to his superior; there are few hints in the Bond canon at Godfrey’s reputation as the rudest man in the Royal Navy, which later caused Indian sailors under his command to mutiny.

Nicholas Comfort
London SE20

Withdrawing into a room to call one’s own

SIR – Victoria Lambert asks what you should call the room in which you entertain guests.

For 35 years, we have lived in what was described as an Edwardian villa when we bought it. It was built in 1903 for householders who had staff – as evidenced by the servants’ bell box, still working, in the back end of the house.

This shows that we have a “drawing room”. However, to us it will always be the “front room”.

Paul Crowhurst
Hertford

SIR – In my northern youth, the cold, dark room next to the front door of our terrace house was used only on high days, holidays and for piano practice. It was known as The Room.

Annette Mann
Wombourne, Staffordshire

Courts could well sit in libraries instead of pubs

SIR – Libraries would seem to offer viable alternative venues to hotels and pubs for court sittings.

In the late Seventies I sat as a captain on a court martial in Portadown, Northern Ireland, when the proceedings were constantly interrupted by helicopter activity near the courtroom. In the end, the presiding judge called for the convening officer and demanded that the court be relocated, as he was unable to concentrate on his summing-up. We reconvened the following day and discharged our duties in the quiet of the large library in the barracks at Lisburn.

If shared costs and usage could be agreed, being able to conduct sittings in this manner could act as a lifeline for libraries faced with closure.

Col JMC Watson (retd)
Welford, Berkshire

SIR – A nearby church was recently closed for removal of asbestos in the organ loft. The Sunday morning service was held instead in the local pub. The congregation was bigger than it had been for years and the pub was packed.

Keith Ferris
Coxheath, Kent

SIR – In the early Sixties I worked for a county coroner who was in the habit of holding his inquests, wherever possible, in the most suitable of the many public houses in his area.

Such inquests would always begin following closing time after lunch, whereupon the coroner would declare the premises to be his court for the afternoon and thus free from the constraints of licensing laws.

Consequently the bar would remain open for as long as refreshments were considered necessary, to the evident satisfaction of all those attending – and the helpless consternation of some of the police officers.

John Fletcher
Nottingham

Departed livery

The Flying Scotsman heads for York on its inaugural run from London Kings Cross. The famous steam locomotive has undergone a £4.2 million refurbishment by the National Railway Museum, York

SIR – John Coghill is disappointed that the Flying Scotsman no longer bears its original colours and the initials LNER.

As the Flying Scotsman is now fitted with smoke deflectors and a double chimney – essential modifications for safe operation on today’s main lines – it would not have been appropriate to have painted it in the classic livery of a long-gone era. I sympathise with Mr Coghill, but I’d rather see it thundering along the East Coast main line than sitting sterile in a museum.

Neil Harrison
Abingdon, Oxfordshire

A kind wind

SIR – Cold and biting though it may be, I adore the east wind (Weather watch, February 27).

When it blows, those of us in south-west London are spared the incessant noise of planes en route to Heathrow.

Elizabeth Balsom
London SW15

Get it done eventually

SIR – Judith Woods is not alone in having long-unfinished items on her to-do list. At the top of mine is a reminder to update the baby book of my younger son once he starts at primary school.

This same child sits his GCSEs next year, and the book remains untouched.

Frances Williams
Swindon, Wiltshire

No cigarette paper

SIR – The total volume of correspondence arriving at The Daily Telegraph in its early days must have been huge.

Groaning postbags brought many other letters in addition to those intended for publication. The paper’s rules and regulations in the 1860s stated sternly: “All communication with those engaged in every department must be made by letter. The Porter cannot carry messages or transmit notes ... The Editor cannot be seen by anyone; all communication with him must be by means of letter”.

Nor could anyone enjoy a calming cigarette during perusal of the missives. “No tobacco is to be smoked in the Establishment”, the paper’s proprietor decreed.

Lord Lexden
London SW1