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Not surprised by lawyers’ attitudes

Congratulations to Louise Whitelegg (Examiner last week) for bringing the voting irregularities to the attention of government and the public.

But I find it unbelievable that four advocate firms would not get involved against one of their own! Well perhaps not so unbelievable.

Stephen Ainsworth, Circular Road, Peel

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One rule for some and for others

I read with some disquiet your report on the recent evidence to the Tynwald Select Committee investigating the irregularities in the election (Examiner, January 17).

Mrs Whitelegg’s reports of the procedures are worrying enough but what is far more disturbing was the idea that advocates didn’t want to investigate anything connected with the Attorney General or the president of the Law Society.

It is astonishing to hear that the Attorney General considered it not in the public interest to prosecute the returning officer despite asserting that he had acted unlawfully. It seems that there is one rule for one section of society and one for another, where prosecutions are brought, for example, for minute amounts of illegal drugs.

It is not only the election procedures that have been brought into disrepute but the standing of the legal profession on the island. This diminishes us all.

Michael Manning, Hilary Road, Douglas

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EU has heralded an era of peace

It was a real delight to read the impassioned letter from A K Webb, even if his attempts to draw parallels between Nazi Germany and the European Union were a fine example of modern post-truth.

It is quite possible once the real outcome of Brexit (shouldn’t that really be UKexit?) has been negotiated that it will provide an appropriate political and economic structure for a, literally and pyschologically, insular nation.

A greater appreciation and experience of European history might have convinced Mr Webb that for most countries, including Germany, membership of the European Union has provided an unprecedented era of prosperity and peace.

This contrasts enormously with the savagery that was wrought on Europe by the German National Socialist regime and indeed by the Soviet Union.

Indeed in September 1939 the Soviet Union also invaded Poland in an attack coordinated with Nazi Germany (but as Mr Webb will no doubt recall the UK failed to honour its treaty obligations to Poland in relation to the Soviet attack on its territories and people – ending with the brutal massacres in the Katyn Woods and elsewhere).

The European Union has in reality been instrumental in ensuring that national borders in Central and Western Europe have been clearly defined and their security underwritten.

No person has been more forthright in ensuring this than the current Chancellor of the German Federal Republic.

This is an awsome achievement. Three generations of European Union citizens, by cooperating together, have avoided the horrors and untold savagery that happened previously.

As a person who works and lives part-time in Germany and Poland I can attest that the vast majority of people are grateful for the peace and prosperity that the European Union has brought to them. Maybe Mr Webb would also like to visit the Baltic States and check whether they feel that the European Union is being dominated by ‘Nazis’.

There is however one very important parallel with the Nazis past that the UK public must be watchful for.

The Nazis were able to skillfully undermine the democratic processes of Germany despite being very much a minority party in the 1920s.

They did this by making much noise, promoting repressive intolerance and claiming to represent those they didn’t.

Now in the UK there is a party that, within that country’s traditional democratic election process, were only able to muster 0.2 per cent of the seats in Westminster, but which is trying to represent itself noisily as the ‘voice of the people’. That of course is UKIP.

It would be an affront to the cherished sovereignty of the UK’s historic Parliament if this 0.2 per cent party were to end up with greater influence than the parties with 99.8 per cent of the seats. That of course is what the Nazis did end up doing...Don’t let history repeat itself!

Paul Kerruish-Kelly, Bowling Green Road, Castletown

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Tower of Refuge for our women

I read with interest the article about abortion reform.

My Dad practised psychiatry in England and through the eighties and nineties he saw a steady flow of ladies with mental health issues that were attributed to previous abortions.

An analysis of 22 medical studies covering more than 877,000 women published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2011 showed a big increase in the risk of mental health problems in ladies who had had previous abortions.

And that is not surprising really, the longing for a child can be intense, and as parents it is natural to want to lay down our lives for our children. To do the exact opposite is bound to lie heavy on a mother’s heart.

As a GP it was my joy to see initially unwanted pregnancies become much wanted and loved children once some misunderstandings had been cleared up. I never saw someone change their mind away from abortion who regretted it.

In fact they were among my most grateful patients, grateful for my listening to their answers to my ‘why?’ question.

I well remember the parents of one energetic lad laughingly and joyfully pointing to him and saying; ‘It’s all your fault’; ‘Hold on!’ says I.

The abortion question is not simple.

Genetic screening will change the face of pregnancy

Apparently 90 per cent of Down Syndrome babies are being aborted in the UK. What do we all think about that?

This is too complex an issue for one well meaning GP to draft a bill when there are such strong feelings on both sides.

We need to work together if the law is to be changed. It will require expert and public consultation.

All over the world abortion laws are a mess.

I think we on the Isle of Man need to come up with something truly humane that shows we really care for human life big and small.

A new kind of Tower of Refuge that women who find themselves with unwanted pregnancy can run to and find the all support they need.

To need to resort to abortion is always a failure in some way.

Dr Graham McAll, Patrick

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How come it’s so expensive here?

If the Orkney Islands can build a floating berth in 2010 for £21m, Liverpool can do it 2007/12 for £16m, Why oh why is the Isle of Man floating berth estimated at £50m?

Is it gold plated?

Like the Iris scheme, the power Station, the abattoir, Lord Street police station, Noble’s Hospital......

The list of mad spend is endless.

Is there nobody out there that can get us some value for money for once?

Chrissie Parkes, The Round House, Lonan