Young people, women, I’m begging you – exercise your rights and register to vote

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

I couldn’t agree more with your coverage (General election: Drive to get millions registered to vote by 26 November deadline) about the absolute necessity to vote and for the democratic life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would forgo this privilege. It should be seen as such. Especially considering the fact that the situation in many countries is that elections are rigged and men and women often have to queue for days to vote in a possibly meaningless activity.

I am passionate about this and am wont to quote to other women about the sacrifices and hardships that suffragettes undertook on our behalf. But often I get a shrug of the shoulders. Of course, the EU referendum, when many people really did vote, has something to do with this, because, to be fair, many voters feel that their decision has not been carried out. They were totally misled into thinking this was the easiest “walk in the park” and would be expedited forthwith. Being a Remainer, I am still grateful that we are still members, but I do see their point.

In any case, I’m sending out a heartfelt plea to our young people: the older demographic may be messing up this country and disenfranchising you from Europe but now is not the time to give up. If you or anyone else wants legitimate change, register now and more importantly, when the day comes, make sure to VOTE. If you don’t and this country continues to go belly-up, you have no real right to complain.

Judith A Daniels
Great Yarmouth

Livestock breeds and climate change

Alex Morss is right to warn of the unintended consequences of introducing alien tree species into the British countryside (Planting trees to tackle climate change might feel nice, but it could be doing more harm than good); they require inputs, many of which have a significant environmental footprint and they crowd out our native species.

However, exactly the same point could be made about our native livestock breeds. These breeds are just as much a part of our historic rural landscape as our native trees and again like trees, they function best in the landscape in which they evolved and developed. The Herdwick sheep is synonymous with the Cumbrian fells, the Welsh Mountain Sheep with the uplands of Wales and the Tamworth Pig with the English midlands.

The continental commercial breeds we have seen come to dominate in recent years, supplanting many of our native breeds, were bred for very different circumstances. As a result, they generally depend on significant quantities of supplementary feed and other additional materials in order to thrive. The cost in terms of the impact on the climate and the use of natural resources is substantial.

As if to highlight the similarity, the UN Sustainable Development Goals treat the maintenance of native plant diversity and native livestock diversity as being the same issue. Goal 2.5 requires signatories, including the UK, to maintenance both of them.

The simplest way forward is with a single solution, promoting land management systems that include both native trees and native livestock. We have seen from places as diverse in their origins as the historic Epping Forest and flavour of the month the rewilded Knepp Castle Estate that native livestock grazing in native woodlands create a level of environmental enhancement far greater than the sum of their parts. These should be our examples for the way ahead.

Christopher Price, CEO, Rare Breeds Survival Trust
Coventry

None of us understood Brexit in 2016

In maintaining that no party is worth voting for, Angelos Sepos seeks to cast the result of the non-binding referendum in concrete (All the parties are failing). But leaving aside the easily proven fact that it was merely advisory, he writes off Labour as a repository for his vote thus: “The Labour Party, whose social policies are humanely good but who question the will (and wisdom) of the people by seeking to put a second referendum.”

I’ve not yet heard any member of the public, interested enough to follow events, make a credible claim to have been as informed as to the consequences of Brexit, on 23 June 2016, as they are today.

To take such a huge decision in a state of near ignorance of what it would mean, stuck with a decision taken based on “taking back control”, “getting our country back” and other deep thoughts from “chairman Cummings”, would be beyond stupid.

We need a second referendum, preferably under a Labour government, offering a choice between: A) Leave with a better deal, or B) Remain.

Eddie Dougall
Bury St Edmunds

Sturgeon has no place in tonight’s debate

I can understand Jo Swinson being miffed at being excluded from Tuesday’s debate, although it is nevertheless sensible to have a head-to-head confrontation between the only two people realistically contending to be prime minister (heaven help us).

I do not, however, understand why Nicola Sturgeon thought it was her inalienable right to be included in such a debate. She is not a candidate for prime minister. In fact, she is not a candidate of any kind in the current election campaign. She is the leader of a devolved administration, albeit one that appears not to understand the limits to its being devolved.

Jill Stephenson
Edinburgh

50p Brexit coins

Collectors would love to get their hands on those 50p Brexit coins. Why doesn’t the government put them in presentation boxes and sell them for £50 each? The money can then be donated to Boris Johnson’s favourite environmental charity.

Patrick Cosgrove​
Shropshire

We need better education

Good editor’s letter from Sean O’Grady (How opinion encourages us to be critical of high-profile interviews like Prince Andrew’s) about the difficulties journalists face in trying to get through the barriers put up by politicians.

The one point I’m concerned about is when he says “...if we’re too lazy or foolish to apply some scepticism to what we hear it’s our own fault”. There are plenty of people who actually do this, but I find many more people who do not. But maybe it is our fault – what does this say about our education system? Surely a key part of education is to learn to analyse situations, examine facts, weigh up options, formulate conclusions, exercise caution, etc. If we are not teaching these skills, we will have a population constantly outmanoeuvred by politicians, the advertising industry and fake news peddlers!

Steve Barnes
Downe