We voted for change with Brexit but were misled - Yorkshire Post Letters

In 2016, I was attracted by what the Brexiteers promised, free trade with the world including the EU, the end of budget payments to the EU, an end to red tape for businesses, immigration down to the tens of thousands, £350m a week extra for the NHS and an end to any influence of the European Court of Justice in the UK.

We now know the reality is that all these promises were either delusionary or outright lies. These options have not and will not be achieved. The electorate were misled.

People who voted for change will become increasingly disillusioned that their lives have not improved but are instead deteriorating.

The consequences of Brexit will, at best, lead to lower living standards in the UK. Hard-working people will lose their jobs as investment in businesses goes to other countries. The City of London which generates much wealth for the UK will be increasingly marginalised and less profitable.

In Remain-voting Scotland, there will be a renewed push for Scottish Independence. For years the mantra of the Scottish Nationalists has been that they need freedom from failed Westminster politics. Who now would say they are wrong about the shambles in Westminster? The loss of Scottish oil fields to the diminished UK economy will mean Government debt will be more expensive and we will see even poorer public service provision.

In Remain-voting Northern Ireland we risk a return to the dreadful Troubles of the past. People’s lives are at risk.

In 2016, I believe we all voted in the hope of a better Britain. It is now clear that what was promised is simply not available. If we leave there will be no simple clean break, we will be negotiating trade and political relationships for years to come, Brexit will continue to be a constant traumatic process haunting our lives and we will all be poorer for it.

The change needed to benefit the disenchanted and disenfranchised in society will not come from leaving the EU, the challenge is for UK politicians to address these issues. Democracy did not stop on June 23, 2016, we need a fresh referendum on what is actually on offer now, rather than the fantasy that Brexiteers promised.

If the reality of Brexit is such a good idea, the electorate will vote for it again. But for me personally, when reality is different to the promises, I change my mind.

From: Alan Machin, Bessacarr, Doncaster.

In THE Yorkshire Post, March 25, Louise Houghton, of People’s Vote South West Yorkshire, stated that the UK was due to receive £11bn of funding in the next round of EU Programme spending.

How many times do we need to explain to these naïve people that this is our money in the first place? In simple terms, for every £2 we pay into the EU, they give us £1 back and tell us how to spend it.

On the same day a letter from Canon Michael Storey suggests the country was split straight down the middle and there was a need to work up a compromise.

When you have a binary decision there is no room for compromise, the result was not split down the middle, 1.2 million more voted to Leave.

In the Scottish Independence referendum the result was closer, but at least the electorate accepted the result.

As far as I am concerned the Remainers are behaving like spoilt children who have not got their own way. They lost and need to get over it and begin to put their energies into making a success of our future.

From: Lindon Dove, Tingley.

This sad and sorry Government have today sunk even lower. MPs have voted to take command of Brexit negotiations.

Were they not aware of the saying that “a camel is a horse designed by a committee”? The Government have already designed a camel in the shape of Theresa May’s proposed deal. MPs have now voted to add a few more legs and perhaps another head to create another creature that perhaps we will name a ‘scamel’.

Their proposal flouts any possibility of achieving a properly negotiated outcome to Brexit and clearly identifies the fact that the democratic will of the people is of no consequence.

From: Maureen McCarthy, Meltham, Holmfirth.

It all seemed so straightforward at the time – a referendum was held, a majority voted to leave the EU and go forward under our own laws, trading freely with other countries, controlling who entered our country, with two years to make and agree the detailed plans.

At the end of those two years we see chaos in Parliament, no plan agreed, another so-called ‘People’s Vote’ proposed, the democratic result of the referendum being ignored by many, plans being proposed that seem to leave us almost exactly where we were, still obeying EU laws and with open borders.

If it were not so outrageous, one could almost think that from the day after the result was announced there has been an ‘under-the-radar’ plot by many MPs and civil servants to overturn the referendum result and keep the UK in the EU! Er, hold on a minute – maybe not so outrageous after all...

From: Jarvis Browning, Main Street, Fadmoor, York.

How is it that the Government has no ears to listen to us that voted to leave the EU without a deal as what the referendum was about in the first place! A deal was never on the voting papers so what’s the problem with just going out without a deal?