I won’t accept any old reckless exit deal

BRYAN Smith (Western Mail letters) said “there was no question about so-called hard or soft Brexit” and “the remoaners need to move on, too”. I voted Remain but I have accepted the referendum’s result. That does not mean, however, that I will accept any old deal.

In the absence of a detailed question on what the UK’s exit from the EU should look like, it is the job of our elected representatives to get us the deal –within the confines of a commitment to leave the EU – that best serves our collective interests.

Not Brexit at any cost. Not any old exit because we voted out, forget about the details. That would be reckless and reprehensible. That mindset is infantile and simply is not the way government should be done.

It is our elected representatives’ job to scrutinise the actions of government. There was only one yes/no question on the ballot paper on June 23 and it did not give the UK government a carte blanche to do as it pleases with no oversight.

The UK government must be accountable to Parliament – as must the UK’s other governments to their own legislatures – for how it interprets the result of the referendum.

In any case, the way democracies work is that even those on the losing side get to keep on making their case. Yes, Leave won – but that does not mean that everyone else has to shut up.

I will carry on believing that Wales and the UK are better served as members of the EU. I know a very small majority disagreed. But if Bryan Smith’s version of “moving on” means destroying jobs, environmental measures, human rights and social protections, he can – respectfully – forget it. Cerith D Rhys Jones

Llanishen, Cardiff