Some sanity needed - now

AS Brexit gets horribly closer I wish to urge all sane MPs to seriously campaign to keep the option of staying in the Single Market and Customs Union.

The non-binding referendum, its circumstances, and its slim majority achieved in those circumstances, is not an adequate ground for the UK to leave the EU.

None of us voted to make us poorer, financially and culturally.

None of us voted for deregulation which will inevitably follow Brexit which will lead to worsening jobs and working conditions.

None of us voted to have our environmental protections watered down and our animal rights diluted.

None of us voted to unravel the UK which will happen if Brexit occurs.

None of us voted for the Good Friday Agreement to be under threat.

None of us voted to have to rely upon the whims of a mentally unstable president of the USA for trade.

None of us voted to endorse xenophobia, bigotry and racism, which Brexit will encourage even more.

We did not vote with any clarity because we were systematically lied to by the Leave campaign team.

For Labour merely to say ‘No we are leaving,’ is to pander to xenophobia and we are far better than that.

To do so will alienate all those new hard working, idealistic members who want more than what is being offered by Tories.

If Labour is intent on following the Tories out of the EU, it must do this with the least economic damage as possible. This means keeping the option of staying in the Single Market and Customs Union.

To crash out of the EU or to endure a hard Brexit will only make those who felt left behind suffer the consequences. Rev Fr Patrick Davies, Manchester