A second EU referendum would harm Britain – whatever the result

SIR – Do those who are calling for a second EU referendum really believe that, if the result were to remain, the EU would restore the status quo?

This is a doubtful prospect. The EU has already earmarked all the jobs that our representatives held, and would be most unlikely to allow us to keep our rebate. We would be further punished for daring to defy the bureaucrats in Brussels and would effectively be classed as a new member.

We are in this to the bitter end.

Professor MMR Williams Eastbourne, East Sussex

SIR – Your leader (August 28) asks what possible help a second referendum might provide.

I would suggest that, given that this massive and complex constitutional change was backed by just 27 per cent of the population, we might greatly reduce the divisions we are currently struggling with.

We need a further referendum, this time based on facts – and with the bar for Brexit set at, say, 75 per cent of those voting, or more than 50 per cent of the total population.

Mike Tyler Worthing, West Sussex

SIR – Jake Berry, the Northern Powerhouse minister (Comment, August 27), is quite right about support for Brexit in the North.

Those who want Britain to remain subservient to Brussels are the southern liberal elite, and so-called intelligentsia, who have more in common with their counterparts in the EU than with their compatriots.

The EU referendum was won largely thanks to working-class voters in the North, who are held in contempt by the selfish denizens of London.

Colin Bullen Tonbridge, Kent

SIR – Who could disagree with Jacob Rees-mogg’s splendid suggestion that we “chuck Chequers” and embrace a Canada-style free trade deal?

Donald Tusk, the more reasonable face of the EU, floated exactly that sort of deal in March. However, the Prime Minister and the architect of the Chequers scheme, Olly Robbins, chose to sink that in favour of the bad deal they were concocting.

What more do we need to know about the about the tactics of Theresa May and the unelected Europhile she has put in charge of handling Brexit?

Martin Burgess Beckenham, Kent

SIR – Geoffrey Brooking quotes me in his letter (August 28) about the “Brexit charm offensive”.

However, I also said that the presentation by Gavin Barwell, Theresa May’s chief of staff, to constituency chairmen in Downing Street was well received. It was certainly more convincing than Jacob Rees-mogg’s letter to local party associations last week, or Boris Johnson’s article on Monday.

Richard Kellaway Chairman, Maidenhead Conservative Association