THE Washington elite believe that the UK should serve Washington’s interest. To this end, President Obama emphasised that the UK must remain in the EU (Barack Obama pulls no punches in assessing EU exit, The National, April 23).
Such is the concern of significant sections of the US ruling elite of the economic, political and military implications of a UK break from the EU that Obama made a full-scale attack on the various claims of those who support a Brexit.
It was an unprecedented intervention by a US president into political events in the UK.
The reason for the intervention is because its easier and less expensive for Washington to control the EU government than to control 28 separate governments. For example, if Washington wants to open up Europe to Monsanto, it is easier for Washington to bribe one EU Government than to deal with 28 governments, especially as the European Commission is not accountable to the European people, whereas the individual populations of the countries would make their objections known to the national governments. The EU can open the door to Monsanto without accountability.
Then there is the Nato consideration. Nato is cover for Washington’s war crimes. Without this cover there likely would be arrest warrants for US officials and, if not, certainly much hostile publicity. The notion that Washington is bringing “freedom and democracy” when it destroys a country would no longer fly.
If the UK leaves the EU, other countries are likely to follow. The desertion could spread to Nato, in which case Washington’s hegemony over Europe and ability to threaten and destabilise Russia disappear. The neo-conservatives cannot stand the thought.
If Obama’s strident tone was an unprecedented intervention by the US into British political affairs, the belligerent response to it by the eurosceptics was no less so.
Boris Johnson insinuated that Obama was anti-British by virtue of his Kenyan heritage.
Johnson’s revival of these claims is a purposeful attempt to align himself with the most ultra-right sections of both the US and UK establishment. The US Tea Party, the so-called birthers and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump have all claimed that Obama was born in Kenya and is therefore not eligible to become president.
That a leading member of the Conservative Party is prepared to write in such an openly hostile manner to a serving US president is extraordinary.
Alan Hinnrichs, Dundee
BARACK Obama has seriously misjudged the voters of this country.
His ill-advised intervention over the EU referendum makes a strong case for leaving the EU before US business interests become entrenched.
Raising the special relationship between two countries, he insensitively drew attention to the number of Americans in European war graves as his reason for speaking out on the referendum, forgetting that these graves only started to appear after Germany declared war on the US in December 1941, a year after the Battle of Britain had been won.
His lack of respect for the special relationship continued when he made it clear that the US overriding ambition is to get the EU to agree to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
If the UK leaves the EU, then its negotiators can wait at the end of the queue until the US has got its claws into the EU market.
As far as I am concerned this is the end of the line for Barack Obama and the “special relationship”, if in fact it ever existed.
Maggie Jamieson, South Queensferry
SPRING is here, and community councillors all over the country are busy planning summer festivities and badgering the authorities to repair the ravages of winter on roads and drains. But NOT in large swathes of Dumfries and Galloway, where the council just has decided to shut down 38 of their 91 community councils.
What dire event has happened? Has there been a mass elopement of treasurers to the Bahamas with the wind farm money? No – D&G, alone amongst Scottish councils, decided to introduce a new rule that community councils must adopt their constitution within three months of election or be abolished. Our local CC signed their constitution four days late in January after being advised by an official that it was OK and to just call an EGM as soon as possible. D&G Council then approved our constitution and returned it to us with NO indication that there was a problem. We now have a week to collect 20 signatures to prove people in our village want a community council and our cash-strapped local authority will have to pay to re-run 38 elections only six months after the original ones.
Sadly this ridiculous situation will prompt large numbers of councillors to decide that they have better things to do with their time, and some community councils will cease to exist. This will have a silver lining for D&G Council as they will be able to make a grab for the Community Wind Farm Funds. At the very least, this action of D & G Council has severely dented the trust between the council and local people at a time when the Scottish Government is planning to empower the self-same communities. What a fiasco!
Linda McDonald, Thornhill
BU toil leam a ràdh taing mhòr dhan a h-uile duine air feadh an t-saoghail a bha an sàs ann an Là na #Gàidhlig am-bliadhna. Bha #Gàidhlig a’ treandadh ann an Inbhir Nis is Dùn Èideann ro 11m agus an uair sin air feadh an RA dà uair an-dèidh. Dìreach sgoinneil oir bha tòrr co-fharpais ann (#nationalteaday #queenat90)! Threandadh an taga-hais #Gàidhlig ann an Glaschu agus Baltimore sna Stàitean corr math is 24 uair! Thàinig @ScottishFA aig mullach a sòlais agus nochd taic rìoghail airson a’ chànain. Bha an Nàiseanta aig a’ stìuir a thaobh craodhladh an latha thar na h-Eileanan Bhreatainn. Ràinig sinn targaidean Twitter agus chunnaic sinn fàs ann an ruigse, deargaidhean agus tutichean. Thoirt na sgoilearan is tidsearan an sàs ann an Alba agus fiù ’s Tennessee sna Stàitean misneachd dhuinn! Mealaibh ur naidheachd Bun-Sgoil Chnoc a’ Chonaisg, Grianaig sa co-fharpais fèineag! Fear den rudan a chur iongnadh oirnn bha stèidheachadh de bhuidheann iomairt ùr na Gàidhlig: MISNEACH. Thòisich mi air na planaichean mar-thrà airson an ath bhliadhna - 20/04/2017.
I’D like to express my thanks to everyone around the world who participated in last week’s Là na #Gàidhlig (Gaelic Twitter Day) – both online and offline. #Gàidhlig was trending in Inverness and Edinburgh before 11am and then across the whole of the UK by 1pm — an amazing achievement considering the competition (#nationalteaday #queenat90)! The hashtag was trending in Glasgow and Baltimore, USA for over 24 hours! The SFA in particular came out on top and attracted attention which brought to light royal support for the Gaelic language. The National led in the scurry of media coverage across the UK and Ireland. Twitter targets were smashed again, seeing a year-on-year increase in tweets, impressions and reach. It was heartening to see so many schools across Scotland involved – there was even one in Tennessee, USA! Congratulations to Whinhill Primary School in Greenock who won the selfie competition! One of the most surprising things to see on the day was the emergence of a new campaigning group called MISNEACH. Plans are already afoot for next year – 20/04/2017.
Jamie Wallace (Seumaidh) Glasgow (Glaschu)
WHAT a hateful article by the Wee Ginger Dug about the Queen (Roll on the day when Scotland can wave goodbye to the royals, The National, April 23). He thinks he speaks for the whole of Scotland but he does not. If he wants to make a personal opinion, fine, but he gives the impression that the whole country is anti-Queen with his comments.
G Patterson, via email
Obama’s appeal for the British public to vote Remain angers Brexit campaign
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