Theresa May must be prepared to walk away from punitive Brexit talks

SIR – Your report (July 2) that Theresa May could storm out of Brexit talks over the “divorce bill” will have been seen by EU leaders.

Mrs May must not weaken on this, or the EU will have the whip hand. The people who voted Leave expect her to stick to a policy of withdrawing from every EU rule and law that is against our interests. Nothing less will do.

Dorchester

SIR – Christopher Booker (Review, July 2) is wrong in his support for the “Norway model”, whereby Britain stays in the European Economic Area.

The EEA was designed to get countries into the EU, not out, and we would surrender control of our market without having a voice. “While they pay, they don’t have a say”, as David Cameron put it before the referendum. There would also be free movement of people, which Britain has rejected.

The benefits of a “transitional” arrangement using the EEA are illusory. The EU quickly loses interest in new trade deals. Britain would be stuck in a poor position for decades, not years, adding billions in costs.

The political will in Britain has moved towards making a clean break from the EU. We need to follow Canada, whose new trade deal – the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) – ensures 99 per cent access to the single market, with no access fees and no free movement.

Canada is the EU’s 12th-largest trading partner; we are number one. We wouldn’t start with 16,500 goods tariffs as Canada did; we would start with no tariffs and no quotas, and convergent laws. Our negotiation could therefore focus on enhancing services and protecting the City.

Senior EU trade figures are open to this option, as I believe are many British advisers. It is regarded by the World Trade Organisation as a leading trade agreement, and we would be foolish not to seek a similar version. David Campbell Bannerman

MEP (Con), East of England Cambridge

SIR – Derek Woods (Letters, July 2) says Brexit cannot be carried out by a minority government. He calls for a second referendum and predicts that 75 per cent would vote to remain.

Without Project Fear, the result of the referendum would have been even more decisive, which is likely why polls now show that only 21 per cent of people are in favour of staying in the EU.

Brexit was a vote for self-rule. However tenuous the Government’s majority, it is in a Parliament that accepts the referendum result. Henry Ireton

Hordle, Hampshire

SIR – I agree that there should be a second referendum, but Mr Woods is wrong to say that people regret voting Leave. The Remain claims about the economy, the direction of the EU and other scare stories have proved false.

The question in a future vote should be: do we leave on the terms offered by the EU or on WTO terms? Tim Wills

Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire