Published: 7:00 AM June 9, 2018 Updated: 6:26 PM September 17, 2020

The whole country now has a real need to step back and do a reality check as to where we actually are with regard to Brexit, and the unbelievably ridiculous proposals being put forward by people in charge.

The justice secretary David Gauke has stated that prisoners will be able to fill the post-Brexit workforce shortage of immigrant workers in sectors such as agriculture, catering and construction.

As a travelling podiatrist I have a lot of farmers on my patient list. I have only had positive feedback from them with regards to the east European workers on their farms, they tell me they find it hard to get them out of the fields at the end of the day's work. They also tell me that the local English workforce often cannot keep up or don't turn up again for work the next day. I think these farmers will be over the moon to find out they will be forced to have fields full of prisoners bringing in the harvest.

Ex-offenders can and should be supported back into work and the community at large. However, they should not be simply used in desperation in a dreadful situation of our own making under the guise of some kind of job creation/training for their benefit.

David Fairclough

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St Helens

The US president's tariffs on steel are another dose of cold hard reality for Brexit Britain. They show that promises about a favourable trade deal with the US are deluded.

The fact is that Brexit would be a stake through the heart of the UK steel industry. We would lose the strength in numbers the EU gives us to stand up to Trump's aggression. And we would be shutting ourselves out of the world's biggest tariff-free zone, just when we needed it more than ever.

Save our steel? Only by staying in the EU.

Kevin Sullivan

Swansea

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