Making the best of Brexit
To The Independent
Given that the majority of Brexit voters (and probably many Remainers) in the EU referendum had little idea of the details of exactly what they were voting for – a stance obviously shared by many of the present Tory Government – I really do not see what is wrong in calling a second referendum once the precise details of our exit deal are confirmed. The Brexiters will claim that “Brexit means Brexit”, but what have they to object to in a second vote? If the Brexit voters maintain their majority, then at least it will be on the basis of an informed decision. However if, on the basis that the precise implications of the Leave vote are fully understood, the majority switches to Remain then that is democracy in action and the wishes of the British public will have been maintained. David J. Williams, Colwyn Bay, Wales
To The Guardian
As a Remain voter in the EU referendum, I note with some disdain the way in which the EU leaders have dealt with Theresa May in recent days. Rather than treating her with dignity and magnanimity as a leader who is trying to do the best with the hand she has been given by the British people, she was treated like a petulant child who had misbehaved and now had to suffer. This and the collapsed trade deal with the Canadians clearly reflects how weak the EU really is, and how impossible it will be for the UK to negotiate a trade deal with it. We should be under no illusions that they will negotiate on free movement or allow us not to pay into the EU’S central budget in order for us to continue to play a part in it. Britain, as a clever and able country, will indeed survive and no doubt thrive with trade tariffs if this is the price it has to pay for its vote on sovereignty and self-determination on immigration. Robert Bradlow, Reigate, Surrey
To The Guardian
Global citizen Ian Jack wrestles with Theresa May’s claim that a citizen of the world is a citizen of nowhere but stops short of substituting “EU” for “world”. Just as a Frenchman living in Calais is utterly indifferent to the rise of the English underclass, so an Englishman living in Dover couldn’t care less about the alienated Maghrebis corralled into the banlieues of Paris. Selfproclaimed cosmopolitan Parisians and Londoners are likely to be no less indifferent. Giving priority to sorting out one’s own backyard doesn’t deserve the “little Englander” epithet. Yugo Kovach, Winterborne Houghton, Dorset