From Alison Ridout, Ryde:

There have been a few letters in the County Press mentioning that Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man have closed their borders during the pandemic and why didn't we.

Basically, their situation is completely different from ours.

We are a county of England, completely under the jurisdiction of the Westminster government. We have to do what the government of the day decides.

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are, on the other hand, crown dependencies — in other words they are independent under the Queen.

They each make their own laws and the UK government is not able to change them. This is the same as the rules for places like Malta and Gibraltar.

And, if you think we could, perhaps, become a crown dependency, we are a few centuries too late - it dates back to 1066 and all that!

Just for the record, I lived in both Jersey and Guernsey over a total of 12 years.

Read more letters sent to the County Press here. Do you have a view on this or any other subject? Send us a letter to editor@iwcp.co.uk