Dear Mary: Do I have a moral duty to allow Brexit chat at supper parties?

Q. I’ve been having friends to supper for many decades. Although I say it myself, these gatherings have often been hugely successful, with lots of laughter, people making new friends and guests regularly staying beyond 1 a.m. When Brexit started it was OK because talk of it didn’t dominate the evening. It now does. Last week I told my guests the subject was banned. They looked thrown but we went on to have an enjoyable evening. On the other hand I am also wondering, is it my duty — as someone with a venue and a good network of friends — to allow my guests to hold forth at this time of what some might call a National Emergency?
— R.G., London W8

A. You are right to have banned it. Brexit conversation seems to be uniquely undialectical in that participants don’t wish to arrive at a truth through listening to reasoned arguments. Everyone’s views are already entrenched, hence discussion inevitably devolves into debate and, as the object of a debate is to win, aggression becomes a factor. Unless the subject is banned, guests will make new enemies
and will leave with indigestion. Let them discuss Brexit elsewhere. Supper parties must not lose their historic connection with fun, friendship and food.

Q. My elderly mother, who lives alone, is physically fit. Nevertheless, like all members of her generation, she is susceptible to scam phone calls. We have cancelled the landline and given her a mobile, which she loves and is perfectly able to use. The problem is that because she is absent-minded, she keeps mislaying it in her fairly big house. At this point she calls in a neighbour to come and ring her mobile from their mobile, but because the signal is patchy, still the phone often cannot be found.