‘Future governments must try and resist temptation to please’

IN the letter headed ‘So much for the glory of Brexit’ in the Leek Post on January 20, Frank Opitz corrects some of John Emery’s misstatements about Brexit.

Mr Emery’s view is rose-coloured. What, in fact, has Brexit done for us? Apart from raise cross-channel transport problems to a new level.

It was a project nearly impossible to carry out and the signatories to the eventual ‘deal’ were stampeded into it by warnings from almost every commercial concern and educational body of the dire consequences of ‘no deal.’

The disputes generated by this hastily patched together arrangement will go on for years, swelling the coffers of lawyers here and in the rest of Europe.

I must comment on the matter, raised by Mr Opitz, of what benefits

people arriving here should receive. If people are here legitimately and working here legitimately they should be entitled to the same protection as the native population.

Anything else is questionable and mean-spirited. If people have arrived illegally and/or are working illegally, the position is different and no blanket policy is possible.

We are living with the consequences of the election of a populist government on a platform of xenophobic policies which were not in fact workable without modification. The situation has been compounded by covid. The government was too frightened of unpopularity to take the swift and energetic action recommended by many medical and scientific experts. Look at the results!

It is to be hoped that in future aspirants to and holders of power will resist the temptation to please the electorate and prevent newspaper criticism when it knows that such appeasement could do serious damage. This should be a lesson to us.

Margaret Brown Staffordshire