IT is not surprising that many English, as distinct from British, politicians and voters, do not understand why the terms they use when describing our relationship with the European Union - such as ‘taking back control’, ‘they won’t allow us’,’dictatorship’, ‘vassal nation’ , ‘superstate’, ‘being in thrall’ etc - do not advance the negotiations or resonate with politicians and voters in the other 27 countries (Letters by Aled Jones and A V Martin, March 22).

Of all the 28 members of the EU, England is the only one, apart from Sweden, which for many centuries has no experience of actually being occupied or colonised by another nation.

Furthermore, unlike the people of Spain, Germany, Portugal, Austria and Italy, we have no experience of living under an actual dictatorship, in the true meaning of that word.

Six of the 28 nations, like us, have also had the experience of colonising and occupying other nations, so they know as we know exactly what ‘control’ that entails and how totally different it is from what we all experience by virtue of being members of the European Union.

The exaggeration of Brexiteers’ language makes a nonsense of diplomacy and discourse.

Maurice Vassie,

Deighton, York

Democracy is going out of the window

WE were once the birthplace of honesty and democracy and we are now becoming as rotten as America.

Politicians are completely ignoring the country and deciding what they want, not what the people decided.

Imagine Man City winning the Premier League say on goal difference and then the rest of the top four teams decided that they did not agree with the result and wanted some matches replayed. The whole of football worldwide would be gobsmacked.

Yet this sort of thing is happening now by collusion with Remainers controlling the news and opinions - and I am afraid the supposedly independent speaker John Bercow. He was obviously advised by someone to dig up a 400-year-old rule to stop the Brexit bill possibly being passed.

If anything else but a deal to leave or we leave without a deal is agreed then democracy goes out of the window and the will of the over 17 million voters will have been ignored.

Along with millions I am incandescent with anger that this legitimate result is being usurped.

John Norman,

off Tadcaster Road,

York

Nation must speak to nation in Europe

What a sad headline to the recent letter from A V Martin - ‘Anti-Exit Brigade ignorant of history’.

As an 84-year-old I can reassure the writer that those of us who would prefer to remain in Europe remember only too well the terror and the human cost in lives during two world wars. They brought suffering, misery, unimaginable horrors and financial ruin.

To avoid this carnage in future, it is essential that nation speaks to nation, as happens within the European Union now.

The risk of mass slaughter far outweighs the cost of being a member of the EU.

Many young people value our membership and wish to remain. They are our future - our diplomats or our cannon fodder.

Brian Oxberry,

Field Court,

Heworth,York

I’m part of the silent majority on Brexit

I see a lot of people went on a charabanc trip to London at the weekend to ensure British tax money continues to be sent to Brussels and spent in other countries - and also to let anybody who wants to, come to Britain to enjoy our overly-generous welfare system.

Like the silent majority I preferred to remain in Osbaldwick!

John Zimnoch,

The Village,

Osbaldwick,York