Eurosceptics must resist a transition deal that betrays the Brexit vote
SIR – Boris Johnson warns that Eurosceptics cannot afford to “sit back in silent self-satisfaction” (report, February 15). Nor can we, when the Government of which he is a member appears to be hell-bent on achieving a “transition” deal at any price.
In exchange for Britain accepting the continued free movement of people and the continued jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, as well as offering a £44 billion sweetener, the EU will grant us a 21-month “transition period”, subject to EU directives over which we will have absolutely no say. Some deal.
Better to make a clean break in March 2019, while at the same time offering to continue trading on tariff-free terms, with no strings attached, for as long as it takes to negotiate a genuine EU free-trade deal.
Christopher Gill
Bridgnorth, Shropshire
SIR – Recently the Prime Minister stated, without qualification, that her prime objective for the Brexit talks was to come out of them controlling our borders, our money and our laws.
Those of us who fought to keep control of our money at the time of deciding the Maastricht Treaty had to rebel against our own government. The same does not apply to today’s patriots. Now it is a question of how best to assist the Prime Minister to do what she wants to do.
Lord Spicer
London SW1
SIR – Jon Rollinson (Letters, February 15) says of Brexit: “When you choose to leave a club, you no longer get to influence [its] decisions.”
When I left a gym, I was not expected to keep on paying a subscription in order to fund future projects, or to keep other members’ costs down. I did not have to follow all the club rules in my life outside the gym, and there were no restrictions placed over which clubs I could join in the future.
Eve Wilson
Hill Head, Hampshire SIR – Mr Rollinson says the EU is only acting in the interests of its members.
If that were true then I would be firmly in the Remain camp. However, the EU is intent on being a major political entity; and, despite the fault-lines that are becoming apparent among its members, it is obsessed with regulatory conformity.
Robert Bates
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
SIR – There are problems in the Brexit process because neither side involved will admit to the weaknesses in its own position.
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Brexit will involve economic problems, and Brexiteers should acknowledge this. They will then be in a stronger position to draw attention to the much greater damage, both economic and political, that would result from remaining within the EU. It is this damage that Remainers currently refuse to acknowledge.
Alexander Hopkinson-woolley
Bembridge, Isle of Wight