Government can win public trust with a more open approach to Brexit

SIR – The main Brexit battle will not be fought in Brussels but here in Britain.

Currently the Government is losing the PR fight, with the EU negotiators portraying our side as unprepared. In fact what they mean is that we will not acquiesce to their outrageous demands. Remainers are happy to support the EU line.

However, if the Government wants to win the support it needs at home to pursue a hard line, then it must be open and transparent about the EU’s demands. If these demands are set out in detail, I have no doubt that the majority of the British people will be so outraged that they will support a hard line in the negotiations, and if necessary a walk-away option.

Keeping details confidential plays into the hands of the EU negotiators. David James

Kidderminster, Worcestershire

SIR – Much has been said about Britain’s payments to the EU after Brexit, including one to continue exporting to the EU. If this becomes necessary then it must be a two-way street – and, of course, the EU exports more to Britain than we do there. In 2014, we exported goods and services to the EU valued at £229 billion, while the EU exported £291 billion to us.

If we have to pay for access to their markets, they should pay for access to ours. Going by the figures above, their payment should be higher than ours. Ken Shuttleworth

St Albans, Hertfordshire

SIR – The Chancellor’s opinion that we didn’t vote for Brexit to make ourselves poorer is misjudged.

If economics had trumped sovereignty, Remain would have won. The fact that it didn’t, despite all the scaremongering, proves that for most voters money was secondary to being able to run our country as we see fit.

Furthermore, Jeremy Corbyn’s position on Brexit is untenable. We are leaving the single market, so there will be no tariff-free access. Those of us who voted to leave the EU are not expecting it. What we are expecting is

SIR – Daniel Hannan (Comment, July 16) accuses the EU of “economic colonialism”. But the EU does not apply tariffs to any of the goods he cites from developing Africa – they enter tariff-free under economic partnership agreements.

After Brexit, developing countries are likely to find it harder to sell to British consumers. Britain will need to be inventive to even match the terms of the agreements that developing countries enjoy with the EU.

A genuine Brexit policy shift that would benefit British taxpayers and development alike would be to reduce agricultural subsidies. Removing mythical tariffs on chocolate and processed coffee will help neither. Ian Mitchell Senior Policy Fellow Centre for Global Development London SW1