The Prime Minister is right to class Nigel Farage as 'irrelevant'

I am not surprised that the Prime Minister is concerned over the media coverage of Nigel Farage and his supposed closeness to Donald Trump. I am embarrassed that a man with his views could be seen to be representing me to the world.

In my view all he is doing is seeking celebrity status, to perhaps improve his standing as an after dinner speaker. Perhaps, Nigel, you would be better to spend your time winning an election for yourself?

Clive Applewhite
Newark

Theresa May was right to dismiss Nigel Farage as an irrelevance, and in doing so anger many Tory MPs. Anything that causes division within this Government is to be welcomed.

Patrick Cosgrove
Bucknell

Surely the Foreign and Commonwealth Office should be debriefing Nigel Farage for insights into what makes Donald Trump tick. Farage is uniquely qualified being the only British politician who backed President-elect Trump and shared a presidential campaign platform with him. Let’s not forget that on the last day of his campaign Trump said: “It’s going to be Brexit plus, plus, plus.” Now the election is over, the first foreign politician to meet with Trump is none other than Farage.

Like it or love it, Brexit is now a transatlantic phenomenon. It's not going away.

The Washington consensus is dead. Long live the nation state.

Yugo Kovach
Houghton

The Democratic Party has been defeated in the person of the most economically neoliberal and internationally neoconservative nominee imaginable. From the victory of Donald Trump, to the Durham Teaching Assistants’ dispute, the lesson needs to be learned. The workers are not the easily ignored and routinely betrayed base, with the liberal bourgeoisie as the swing voters to whom tribute must be paid. The reality is the other way round. The EU referendum ought already to have placed that beyond doubt.

There is a need to move, as a matter of the utmost urgency, away from the excessive focus on identity issues, and towards the recognition that those existed only within the overarching and undergirding context of the struggle against economic inequality and in favour of international peace, including cooperation with Russia, not a new Cold War. It is worth noting that working-class white areas that voted for Barack Obama did not vote for Hillary Clinton, that African American turnout went down while the Republican share of that vote did not, and that Trump took 30 per cent of the Hispanic vote. Black Lives Matter meant remembering Libya, while Latino Lives Matter meant remembering Honduras.

The defeat of the Clintons by a purported opponent of neoliberal economic policy and of neoconservative foreign policy, although time will tell, has secured the position of Jeremy Corbyn, who is undoubtedly such an opponent. It is also a challenge to Theresa May, to make good her rhetoric about One Nation, about a country that works for everyone, and about being a voice for working people.

David Lindsay, Lanchester, County Durham
George Galloway, former Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead (1987-1997), Glasgow Kelvin (1997-2005), Bethnal Green and Bow (2005-2010), Bradford West (2012-2015)
Neil Clark, journalist and broadcaster
Ronan Dodds, writer, broadcaster and activist, Newcastle upon Tyne
James Draper, writer, broadcaster and activist, Lanchester, County Durham
John Mooney, writer, broadcaster and activist, Lurgan, County Armagh
Mietek Padowicz, writer, broadcaster and activist, Newcastle upon Tyne
Aren Pym, writer, broadcaster and activist, West Cornforth, County Durham
Adam Young, writer, broadcaster and activist, Burnopfield, County Durham

I do not generally agree with the rants of Nigel Farage and his Brexit fundamentalist brigade, but his comments of 17 May were clearly spot-on. To quote his words of Brexit wisdom, “in a 52-48 referendum, this would be unfinished business by a long way”.

Well Nigel, you got that one right.

Recent opinion polls show there is no clear mandate for the Government to press the button for a Brexit bind date. Theresa May, please take note. A common sense and properly considered plan that can repair the damage David Cameron has left behind after his half-baked referendum must be the way forward. Like all good plans, that requires a proper and open debate to consider all the issues in depth, followed by a second referendum based around facts not porky pies, and a conclusive majority.

I also seem to recall that Farage referred to a conclusive majority in terms of 60 per cent or more. Sounds about right to me, Nigel.

J Gaskell
Bishop’s Stortford

If President-elect Trump implements his declared intention to take the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, would it not be considered an act of war? I’d certainly complain to our Government that he had attacked me.

Dr DJ Rhodes
Nottingham