A windy, dark Sunday evening, and filled with the confidence of a pint in the pub I thought I’d take a walk to seek out some of Hackney’s nocturnal nature, writes Will McCallum, Newington Green.

A couple of miles into the wander, having got bored at the sitting ducks on the new river, I slowly came to the conclusion that a winter’s night in a city is not the time nor place to come across interesting wildlife.

Even exploring the bark of some of the knottier plane trees along St Paul’s Road yielded no secrets.

Instead, as the last of my drink left my blood and still no life stirred amongst the allotments by Petherton Green, I came up against the astonishing loneliness of a night unstarred by electricity.

Walking home along Green Lanes, the harsh lighting and rumble of passing cars did nothing to quell the feeling of failure at having discovered nothing of interest, and so in a last ditch effort I opted for the quieter streets to meander back down to Newington Green.

Brightly lit front rooms revealed private Sunday lives – flickering screens and quiet meals as my neighbours prepared for the week ahead.

Between the unlit terraces, slow pinpricks of light appeared in the night sky and a passing cloud laid bare the half moon, steeling herself for next week’s performance where she will appear large and blood red: a supermoon.

I was unlucky this Sunday, but next Sunday’s bright moonlight will bring out the critters, I’m sure.

We regularly attend water workout classes for health reasons at Clissold Leisure Centre, write local residents Clare Fermont, Susan Kanyenkiko, Aicha Kossoko, Margaret Renn, Anna Solberg, Shera Shaikh, Chloe Watkins, Maria Flores, Jennie Long, Felicia Mokwoe, Lesley John, Anna Paczuska, Bless Akoir, O Maselino, Androula Tzortzis, Jenny Parillon and Susan Keen.

Yet again, our class was cancelled – on January 4 after we were in the pool – because cover had not been arranged for our wonderful coach, who is on extended leave that was booked months ago.

Indeed, since Better began running the centre, holiday periods have meant regular class cancellations as cover is rarely organised. Members are given no deduction from their monthly subscription, no one is compensated for wasted travel costs, and our health suffers.

Our many individual complaints over the years to the centre’s management and Better’s head office about this and many other issues, including the way staff are paid and treated, have been ignored or made no difference.

Better frequently breaks its contract with us about the services it promises to provide. Perhaps the council should break its contract with Better so that Hackney residents can receive the health and leisure services they pay for and deserve.

Editor’s note: We asked Hackney Council about this, and community services boss Cllr Jon Burke told us: “I will be working with Better to ensure the concerns raised by valued customers of Clissold Leisure Centre are addressed as a matter of urgency.” Meanwhile, Better itself said: “We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of this class due to an unexpected staff shortage. We are offering class credits to those affected last week. We apologise that on this occasion the standard of service fell below what we want to provide our customers.”

Since I last wrote on remainer conspiracy to keep Britain in the EU, parliament has wasted a month doing nothing apart from helping the extreme remainers in their plot to keep Britain in the EU at all costs, writes Christopher Sills, Dunsmure Road, Stamford Hill.

I am writing on the assumption that Theresa May’s appalling deal is rightly rejected by parliament and that Jeremy Corbyn tables a vote of no confidence in the government, which he may win if the Ulster Unionists vote against the government which I would expect them to do if they want to retain credibility.

Whatever the result of the confidence vote the prime minister should call a meeting of the cabinet next Saturday and she should announce her resignation and that they will not be allowed to go until a new prime minister is elected who will be put to party members after Britain has left the European Union on March 29.

The new prime minister should not have voted for Theresa May’s plan as it is so bad that no sensible politican could possibly support it and remain credible. This view may seem to be harsh on Theresa May but the extreme remainers and the European Commission have left the Conservative Party with no effective alternative and, therefore, have to face the consequences of their own actions and shut up.

The new prime minister should immediately announce that Britain is leaving the European Union on March 29 with no deal unless the European Union backs down which is possible but unlikely.

The remainers will continue their project fear but they should be treated with the contempt they deserve and like the so-called computer bug on January 1, 2000 they will be proved to be the fools that they are.

If something like this is not done chaos will continue and the country will throw its rulers out and Ukip will become the government with its links to the extreme right.