Why we need a customs union deal with the EU

THERE’S a new petition on Parliament’s website calling on the Government to consider the potential economic benefits of a customs union deal with the European Union.

Its publication now looks especially timely given the tariffs announcement by Donald Trump last week.

The petition doesn’t name the US President. But it does note “an increasingly perilous geopolitical situation” and the need to resist “threats and demands of dictators and demagogues”.

You can view and sign the petition at – bit.ly/CustomsUnion. Another parliamentary petition – calling for us to rejoin the European Union as soon as possible – was debated by MPs last month (March 24). This new one could be, too, if it secures 100,000 signatures.

Positive as EU membership will be for Britain, it’s probably still some years – and another referendum – away. Commenting on the Trump tariffs at the weekend, Sir Keir Starmer said “the world as we know it has gone …old assumptions can no longer be taken for granted”.

That ought to be sufficient incentive, then, for the Prime Minister to urgently rethink Labour’s Brexit “red lines” – which include blocking discussion of a customs union agreement. It would mean fewer tariffs and less red tape for British firms wanting to trade with the huge European market on our doorstep.

Doing more business on the other side of the English Channel is one way we can offset less trans-Atlantic trade. Non-members such as Turkey already have a customs union deal with the EU. We need one, too.

Peter Brown,

Brooke Street,

Cleckheaton

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Trump ‘Nazi’ poster in York was not offensive

MATTHEW Laverack believes that the posters that appeared on a wall in Paragon street were ‘abusive and offensive’ (The Press, Letters, April 10).

To be sure, the depiction of certain living politicians in Nazi uniforms was strong stuff, and not for those of a sensitive disposition.

But they cannot be called abusive or offensive because they point to an essential truth about these men, that they are, or would like to be autocrats.

Donald Trump is an especially bad example of a would-be autocrat. He has talked of running for a third term as president, though the American constitution forbids this. He has packed the White House with his cronies, whose chief characteristic is unquestioning loyalty to him. And he has stated clearly his wish to take over Canada, Greenland and Panama. I begin to wonder if the man is the reincarnation of Hitler.

But Trump has a rival in Putin, whose unrestrained hold on Russia I believe Trump envies. The irony about Putin is that he says that his war on Ukraine is a war against Fascism. Yet in every respect Putin is acting according to the old Fascist rule book.

The posters may have been strong stuff. But they remind us that autocracy belongs to the present, as well as the past.

David Martin,

Rosedale Avenue,

Acomb, York

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Put up income tax

WE constantly hear from political parties promises of no increase in income tax.

In an age where inflation is pretty constant, the cost of keeping a country running is constantly rising, so how can any Government suggest a reduction in taxes when it’s expenditure is constantly rising?

Surely a more honest approach is needed, ie. costs are rising, so we cannot avoid tax rises.

One or two pence on the basic rate of income tax, the same on the higher rate, surely that is a more practical approach.

Adrian Wort,

Newton Abbot,

Devon