Mark Seddon is right in suggesting reform of the UN is overdue (Opinion, 11 April), especially the permanent membership of the security council. The colonies of 70 years ago are almost all independent. Germany is no longer the war-ravaged and occupied country it was in the 1940s, but an economic powerhouse and a bastion of democracy. Russia no longer dominates much of central and eastern Europe. The world has changed radically since the late 1940s. We still live with a permanent membership of a UN security council that reflects the realities of decades ago. The UK leaving the European Union gives the UN opportunity to examine which nations should be permanent members of the security council. Giving the EU a place as a permanent member, and removing the UK’s seat at this table, would reflect power in the world as it is today.

Richard Dargan

Old Coulsdon, Surrey

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