Brexit split grows as deadline nears
THE pro-Brexit right wing of the Tory Party, on which the PM relies, together with the DUP, makes much of the alleged economic incompetence of Mr Corbyn were he to replace her.
But they should be reminded that a Labour government cannot make a worse mess than would inevitably result from a so-called hard Brexit and would at least achieve a fairer distribution of wealth.
Another referendum would give the nation’s youth a chance to express anti-Brexit views, along with those of academia, the civil service and the City, in contrast to the babyboomers, global capitalists, certain right-wing newspapers and UKIP. Prof John A Davis, Cambridge
# I voted to leave the EU, not to have a partial Brexit. It was to leave completely and become an independent country with no strings attached to any other. The main reason was to stop businesses using immigrant labour, lowering our wages and our quality of life. What I see now is the Remain group abusing their power to control Brexit, so they can give us their interpretation of it, not ours. This is dictatorship. Gary Stephenson Wolverhampton
# With the Tories in a state of civil war and no longer capable of governing the UK, why has Corbyn failed so dismally to speak out against Brexit which will cause most harm to the poorer members of society?
He should now be committing his party to remaining in the single market, which will do the least harm to our economy.
Many people may well be having second thoughts about leaving the EU now they realise they personally will be worse off. Valerie Crews, Beckenham Greater London
# Now is the time to call the EU’s bluff and tell them we don’t accept ultimatums. They need our trade as much as we need theirs, so compromise is the only solution. But with 27 countries involved, a clear break may be best. We’ve never trusted Europe and rightly so, having to bail them out in two world wars. We should trust our trading partnerships with the rest of the world more. Alan Gordon, South East London
# I was in shipping all my working life and have only recently retired. In the late 60s, I helped customs put together a procedure known as Inward Process Relief, or IPR, which allowed importers to claim back duty under certain circumstances which helped them reclaim many billions of pounds. I was also involved in the start of us entering the EU and saw how beneficial it was for us. What we haven’t heard much of is that smuggling will come back and it may cause unrest between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. Stan Rugman, Derby
# We must not fall for threats that we will be worse off after Brexit. The Remainers are just trying to push us into another referendum. It might be a little worse for a while but we’ll soon discover we can still have good relations with the rest of the world. E Ferguson, Sunderland