Sir: In taking its decision to enter the Common Market
knowing it to be against the will of the people the Government, aided and abetted by Parliament, has declared its intention of perpetrating an abuse iof power of a magnitude impossible in any other western country, inconceivable in a democracy, and unbelievable in the birthplace of parliamentary government. That such an abuse is possible is due to the absence of a written constitution with special legal sanctity. That the people have not pressed for such protection of its rights and liberties is because it has always been assumed that no government would ever abuse the trust thus vested in it. The naivety of that assumption has now been clearly demonstrated. Not only is this a betrayal of the people of this and subsequent generations, it is an affront to the countless numbers of those who throughout our history have given their lives, their health and their liberty in building up and defending the constitution.
Whatever view is taken of the issue of the Common Market, it must now be clear that not even where the liberties of the subject are concerned is government to be trusted, and we must now demand a written constitution with requisite safeguards against abuses such as this.
Peter J. Lord-Smith 74 Cleevelands Avenue, Pittville, Cheltenham Sir: The responsible exercise of the periodic vote which in this country we enjoy (and are not likely so to do after entry into the EEC) requires a certain ability to appreciate party strategies.
Does it net now appear that Mr Heath is leading his party to extinction in that, securing the vote to join the EEC with the aid of Labour MPs, he is assuredly heading for a general election on a defeat during the parliamentary battles on the enabling legislation? This will permit the Labour party to come back to power without the responsibility for the major deci slon concerning entry to the EEC. Are Mr Wilson and Mr Jenkins as far apart as it is made to appear?
So what can an anti-socialist and an anti-EEC voter do in this situation but refrain from voting altogether? Perhaps we shall better understand why assassination is considered the only remedy in certain Eastern countries. I remain confident that the British people will find other remedies.
C. R. Preston Timbre Cottage, Shirley, Croydon, Surrey
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