Readers' letters - February 15

Mikhail Gorbachev became President of the Soviet Union in 1985 (‘General Secretary of the CPSU’). He was not elected but selected by a secretive and undemocratic Politburo of Commissars.

Gorbachev was an honest man and genuinely thought the Soviet Union could be reformed and modernised. Fortunately his plan failed and the Soviet Empire imploded, freeing the countries of Eastern Europe and reunifying Germany.

The Soviet Union had lasted 70 years .

Jean-Claude Juncker became President of the European Union (‘President of the European Commission’) in 2014. He was not elected but selected by the secretive and undemocratic EU Commissioners.

No agendas, no minutes of meetings, no accountability.

For the last 25 years, no accountant has signed off as correct the annual accounts of the EU as correct.

And the EU would by now be bankrupt if it were a private company.

No-one in their right mind would today become a new member of the EU.

The Euro is doomed and the EU elites are incapable of preventing the ongoing invasion by stealth.

The United Kingdom has the privilege and honour to put an end to the EU’s wretched 60-year existence by voting LEAVE in the referendum on the last Thursday in June – exactly 41 years from our ill fated vote of approval in 1975.

I voted NO then because I did not believe that this was merely a trading partnership.

We will not get another chance to leave until it implodes disastrously in 2025.

We British can be proud of our heritage and our democracy. No other country on the planet has done so much good in the fields of science, medicine, engineering, and progress than we have in the last 250 years. We have nothing to fear except fear itself.

We are unique in the EU in that the majority of our total trade is outside the EU and we have a balance of trade surplus with the rest of the world.

We who began the long and continuing fight against slavery are beholden to no-one.

France can never repay its euro debts and, some time in the future, will be reduced to junk bond status.

When that happens, the EU will be torn apart.

Our leaving will be an act of kindness as we will hurry on the collapse of the EU system and free not just ourselves from a bureaucratic tyranny but also many other countries. Vote LEAVE and give your grandchildren a better future.

Edward Johnson via email

Sign petition for animals

I have been campaigning for years about cruelty to animals and the lack of any consequences for the most horrific crimes against them (torture and murder).

This petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/120545/ needs to get at least 10,000 signatures to get a response from the government, and 100,000 for it to be considered for debate in parliament to get the law changed for a minimum five year sentence for animal murder.

This is very close to my heart, and to many, many millions who feel the same way.

Greater Manchester has had more than its fair share of animal cruelty and murder, which is on the increase.

I hope and pray that you will help this cause by giving people the opportunity to sign this petition and put their support behind the poor, suffering animals.

If you will be so kind as 
to assist us on this issue, 
we would be eternally grateful.

Gloria Kestle

Address supplied