The Leave vote and pledge to cut immigration

Sir, Surely the point about Brexit and immigration is that once we have left the European Union we shall regain sovereign control of our borders, meaning that if we don’t like the rules, we can change them. The anger about immigration was less about the numbers per se than the realisation that, for as long as we were in the EU, there was nothing we could do.
Steve Vince
Wolverhampton

Sir, Clare Foges highlights the frustration that will be stirred up if the Brexit deal ignores the concerns that the Brexiteers played on in the referendum campaign, but the fact remains that we need immigrants.

The combination of falling birth rate and longer lives has left us critically dependent on bringing in people of working age to fill the gaps, not least staffing the care homes for the elderly.
Murray Stephen
Westcott, Surrey

Sir, Clare Foges states that the “vow to cut immigration will not be forgotten”. Indeed. One of the main reasons we voted Leave was for a significant reduction in immigrants and specific controls on who we allow to live on these shores.

A failure to implement this will represent the greatest political betrayal in a generation.
Alistair Donald
Christmas Common, Oxon

Sir, Immigration had no part in my decision to vote to leave the European Union, Indeed, I welcome people from eastern Europe who had been trapped behind the Iron Curtain
for years and at last were able to be free.

Long live a united and peaceful Europe, but without the constraints
of the current EU and its undemocratic diktats.
Jane S Haworth
Thames Ditton, Surrey

Sir, As negotiations over Brexit resume, is it not time for the government to publish its analysis of the “no deal” outcome?

Taking back control was the core theme of the Leave campaign, so it seems reasonable for the public to be given the chance to understand the implications of “no deal”.
Paul Rex
South Warnborough, Hants

Sir, Since the 2016 referendum the country faces a significant turning point. If a similar scenario were facing a private company, the military or any of the emergency services, all leave would be cancelled and all overtime restrictions lifted until a workable plan were formed.

Parliament is due to enter its summer recess this week and does not return until September. Yet there has not been one voice from any party suggesting the suspension of this year’s recess to enable the much-needed cross-party negotiations, discussions and planning to proceed with the utmost urgency.
Grahame Crawford
Romford, Essex

COST OF FIGHTER JETS
Sir, We do not recognise your cost estimates for the F-35 joint strike fighter (“Britain spends billions on flawed fighter jets”, News, and leading article, “Trouble on deck”, July 17). The costs of the jet, engine and fee continue to fall contract to contract, with the most recent, in February, representing a 62 per cent reduction in the F-35A price from the first contract in 2007.

The F-35B that the UK is procuring is on a similar cost reduction curve that will ultimately bring down the price of a fifth-generation F-35 to that of older fourth-generation fighters.

Many of the programmatic issues raised in your coverage have been addressed. The F-35 is already making a game-changing difference to the defence of a number of nations. We are in agreement with the assessment of Wing Commander Beck, who has had a key role in testing this jet, that it is “the best aircraft [he has] ever flown”, and we are proud of the contribution the jet will make to the defence of the UK, the US and allies around the world.
Jeff Babione
Executive vice-president and general manager, F-35 programme, Lockheed Martin

Sir, I am puzzled by Malcolm Parkin’s suggestion that it would have been wiser to have purchased the F-15 Eagle in lieu of the F-35 (letter, July 18). Although the F-15 would have been cheaper, Mr Parkin’s idea that it could be catapulted from a suitably equipped Queen Elizabeth-class carrier is misplaced. The F-15 would require significant redesign for it to be a feasible option as a carrier aircraft.

The US Navy examined a “navalised” F-15 in the early 1970s and rejected it. They concluded that the modifications for carrier operation would have led to a less capable aircraft at considerable cost, and stuck with their original choice, the F-14 Tomcat.
David Jordan
Senior lecturer, defence studies department, King’s College London

DUNKIRK FILMS
Sir, Kevin Maher writes that the 1940 wartime evacuation of Dunkirk is “criminally under-represented in the annals of movie history” (review, July 18). Two films made just two years later, in 1942, Mrs Miniver and In Which We Serve, represent Dunkirk, the former from a civilian point of view; the latter from that of the Royal Navy. They are both excellent.
Ralph Lloyd-Jones
Nottingham

GROWING CROPS ON GRAZING LAND
Sir, Richard Harvey holds a common misconception that land used for grazing is largely unsuitable for any other purpose (“British beef”, letter, July 18, and Thunderer, July 17).

However, this is far from true. During the Second World War, vast areas of grazing land was successfully ploughed up to grow cereals, potatoes and other crops on the orders of the government, which recognised this as a far more efficient way of feeding the population than meat.

Prior to the arrival of the railways, communities across the UK had to source most of their food from within a few miles, which meant growing crops in areas that have now become monocultures of sheep or cattle.

Even upland areas can be used to grow hardy vegetables, such as swedes, turnips and potatoes. The UK could comfortably grow far more crops than is already the case and feed far more people doing so.
Ben Martin
Campaign manager, Animal Aid

Sir, Richard Harvey makes comments supporting beef production that are at odds with the findings of the Diffuse Pollution Review.

This work, costing the government some £3.5 million and lasting many years, found that cattle production was responsible for much loss of wildlife diversity as well as pollution of watercourses; more recent research adds increased air pollution. Silage production is particularly destructive to wildlife.

The industry has environmental problems, it is time they were addressed.
John Dumont
Penrith, Cumbria

DISCORDANT NOTES
Sir, Your correspondent (letter, July 18) sees Beethoven’s links with London through rose-tinted spectacles. The London (now Royal) Philharmonic Society had earlier commissioned works from Beethoven, and was dissatisfied when he provided it with three overtures which had already been performed in Vienna.

It reluctantly agreed to commission two new symphonies from him, inviting him to London to conduct them. Ill health prevented him from doing this, albeit keeping the money.

A further commission, with a reduced fee of £50 (about £3,500 today) because of his unreliability, resulted in the Ninth Symphony. The sum of £100 that the society reluctantly sent to him when he became ill was a paltry amount.

The society can indeed claim credit for the existence of the Ninth Symphony, but I doubt Beethoven would echo their fine sentiments.
John Suchet
Author, Beethoven: the Man Revealed

BUYING ACID
Sir, Further to your leading article (“Acid test”, July 15) and your comment that “vendors [of dangerously corrosive substances] should be expected to use every opportunity to put criminals off [a potential purchase]”, I recall buying acid to clear a drain five years ago.

The vendor, a small independent plumbing supplies firm, quizzed me for some minutes on my need, how I proposed to use it and how I would safely dispose of unused residue. Given that they were under no statutory requirement to do so, I was impressed by their concern for safety.

Perhaps if the big chain stores began operating a similar policy, we may avoid horrific attacks in the period before necessary legislation.
Terence Davison
Ash Vale, Surrey

INUIT ARTEFACTS
Sir, You reported a claim that artefacts in the National Maritime Museum exhibition, Death in the Ice, were removed from Sir John Franklin’s ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, without permission from Canada’s Inuit people (News, July 3).

Although there are continuing negotiations on the long-term care and curation of newly found relics, every care has been taken that no objects appear without the approval of the Inuit Heritage Trust. The story these artefacts tell is one of which the Inuit are justly proud: that it was the testimony of their ancestors, transcribed more than a century ago, that enabled searchers to find Franklin’s long-lost ships.
Russell Potter
Professor of English and director of media studies, Rhode Island College

SEEKING REVENGE
Sir, Further to Melanie Reid’s Notebook (“It’s a sad day when we fail the test of an honesty box”, July 17), I sell plants from a stall outside my house to raise funds for rhino conservation.

Recently someone took them without paying. I won’t give up on the overwhelming honesty of the majority, but I am tempted in future to pot up bindweed and ground elder.
Fran Williams
Hemingford Grey, Cambs

Letters to the Editor should be sent to letters@thetimes.co.uk