‘We need to retain good EU relations’

I RECENTLY received an email from Boris Johnson. I had not bothered to take my name off the list of Conservative Party members when I drifted out.

This particular email blamed the current conflict with the EU on the EU’S ‘refusal to negotiate seriously’ and claimed that, in the event of no-deal, we could go forward ‘with high hearts and complete confidence’. The Daily Express filled its front page with ‘Boris says UK will ‘prosper mightily’ free from EU’. Such optimism was not shared by the business community which was clearly horrified.

This was not surprising. The country’s public debt topped £2 trillion even before present cushioning of the workforce from the effects of the pandemic and lockdowns.

The Government admitted that it would break agreements if necessary. The North-south divide has been exposed and with it the vulnerability of the recently won Conservative seats.

The fact is that the Government has overestimated our attractions and what other countries are willing to tolerate. It is the prisoner of its most paleolithic supporters.

In one sense it matters little whether some patched up arrangement is signed. Nobody knows what will happen next. The essential need is to regain good relations with our European neighbours and keep them.

Developments since the Brexit vote have shown all too clearly the effect of lessened co-operation on security, immigration and disease containment.

Local MPS should think twice before committing themselves to the Prime Minister’s policies, assuming that they or anyone else knows what the policies are from one day to the next.

MARGARET BROWN BURSLEM