Letters, contributions and comments from Hackney Gazette readers

Christopher Sills, Dunsmure Road, Stamford Hill, writes:

During the referendum campaign I kept silent partly because I had not finally decided which way to vote.

I was persuaded against my better judgement to attend a “vote remain” rally in Hackney and was shocked to be told by a visiting remainer that if the country voted to leave they had a plan to stop it.

Quiet clearly their Plan B has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams and is one of the reasons why the government is in such a mess.

Clearly the so called agreed plan is unacceptable and will rightly be rejected by Parliament and the refusal so far by the European Commission to consider any changes shows how arrogant it is.

The problem is the European Commission understandably does not want us to leave and is, therefore, treating the British electorate as just naughty little boys and girls who should be punished.

Everybody must share some of the blame for the current situation.

Most of the advocates of the so called “people’s vote” are remainers who are hoping that the country will remain.

If by any mischance they succeed the country will remain divided and around 50 per cent of the country will be bitter and the issue will never be settled until the country finally leaves.

I think the Prime Minister should announce as soon as possible that it has not been possible to reach an agreement blaming quite rightly the European Commission and, therefore, we will be leaving on World Trade Organisation terms.

She should also announce that there will be no tariffs on goods coming in from the European Union, all regulations that currently exist will continue until amended, all European citizens currently here will be allowed to stay, and that if they go back to their country on holiday they will be allowed to return.

It follows that if there are any problems they will be created by the European Commission and it will rightly be blamed.

Before it tries anything it should remember continental wine and cars can easily be boycotted by an angry British public.

As the £39billion will not now be payable to Brussels, the chancellor should announce that part of it should be used to reduce taxes, which should include the 5pc VAT charge on fuel, a 1pc reduction in National Insurance contribution paid by employees and a reduction in business rates.

What do you think? E-mail gazette.letters@archant.co.uk

Good to see Hackney get cash

Jennette Arnold OBE, London Assembly Member for North East (Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest), writes:

Our creative sector is vital to our capital’s economy and cultural life, growing faster than any other in the UK and providing one in six Londoners with a job.

However, with creative businesses facing ever-increasing rents and operational costs, they are often being outpaced by the speed of development in our city and consequently priced out of the local areas that they have helped to revitalise.

Last week, I was delighted to see City Hall take a significant step to protect our local creative industries sector, and recognise Hackney as one of London’s six new Creative Enterprise Zones, granting a share of over £11million of funding.

This will go a long way towards enabling the council to deliver new jobs and training opportunities for local people, and to put measures in place to ensure the availability of thousands of square metres of new affordable workspace.

With the looming uncertainty of Brexit and the government’s continued underinvestment in our communities, London must remain open to creative industries enterprises.