Should Britain stay in the single market?

WE WERE asked in the referendum to vote on whether we stay in or leave the European Union. That was the choice on the ballot paper. Nowhere were printed the words ‘subject to the will of Parliament’, ‘leave, but stay in the customs union and the single market’ or ‘accept continued unfettered EU immigration’. When 17.4 million people voted, it was to leave, full stop; no half measures; no Norway solution or Switzerland option. What, precisely, do the politicians not understand about the 2016 referendum result?

ANDREW ANDERSON, Hull. NO ONE voted in last year’s EU referendum to leave the single market. That wasn’t the question on the ballot paper. Cutting ourselves off from membership of the single market — one of Margaret Thatcher’s greatest achievements — would be an act of economic selfharm. So it is good to see that Labour has committed to staying in the single market for a transition period after 2019, when we are due to leave the EU. This is a certainly a sensible policy: acknowledging the referendum result, but reducing some of the risks to the economy. The fact remains, however, that Brexit means we waste years negotiating a deal worse than the one we already have as members of the EU.

Dr KEVIN SULLIVAN, Swansea.

WE VOTED to leave the EU. If, after March 2019, we continue to pay any money to the EU or if we have to be subject to any EU laws, we will not have left.

ROGER LANCASTER, Bristol.