The Lords follow the Treasury in throwing away Britain’s Brexit ace
SIR – Ruth Dudley Edwards’s timely article (Comment, May 1), coupled with the Lords’ vote to block any “no deal” Brexit outcome, show just what the Government is up against, as it tries to implement the referendum vote.
As in any negotiation, Britain had to make clear its willingness to walk away at any point. Its position was then undermined by the Treasury’s well-flagged unwillingness even to prepare for such an outcome. Nor, probably, was it much helped by Keir Starmer’s naive insistence that, if Labour took over, it would never walk away but simply keep talking.
No doubt to its amazement, the EU was thus put on notice that this was no negotiation at all: that, whereas Britain might have had the better opening negotiating hand, its ace had been wilfully thrown away.
Perhaps one should not expect better from the Lords, but it is still startling that it too offers support to the EU negotiators, by confirming that the Government’s hands are tied.
We have been told that Brexit means “taking back control”. If we actually do, then, once on our own, we shall need to find leaders who understand how the world really works. Gordon Bonnyman
Frant, East Sussex
SIR – The House of Lords is a revising chamber, not a wrecking chamber. It has no right to thwart the will of the people. If the Lords don’t understand that, they must be abolished. Bernard Gallivan
Edinburgh
SIR – An unelected body instinctively acts to protect unelected bureaucrats. Didn’t Viscount Hailsham, who put forward the amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill, once charge the taxpayer for the cleaning of his moat? Mark Robbins
Bruton, Somerset
SIR – A majority voted Leave and any idea that Remainers can cheat this majority out of their victory will, in my opinion, result in civil unrest at the very least and the collapse of democracy at worst. Adrian Johnston
Rugby, Warwickshire
SIR – The arch-remainer combo of Theresa May and Philip Hammond is determined to sell us out with this “EU Mark 2” idea. Of all ideas – yet another that Michel Barnier will bat to one side – this is the most ridiculous. It would make the UK an EU vassal state. Brian Curd
St Ives, Dorset
SIR – How can Mr Barnier live with his own rhetoric? “No matter how big or small a country is in the EU, we stand by each other through thick and thin,” he says.
Why do Germans pay less than Polish consumers of Russian gas? Why is such high unemployment (youth unemployment particularly) tolerated in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece?
So much for all being in it together. Simon Mcilroy
Croydon, Surrey