Being pro-European doesn’t make you anti-democratic - Yorkshire Post Letters

Sir BERNARD Ingham’s whole column advising the Conservative Government and likely next Prime Minister Liz Truss what to do next was typically ludicrous (‘Truss can outwit Labour with a Cabinet of brains’, The Yorkshire Post, August 31).

But one line caught my eye: “The public abhor fractious parties – and will abhor the Tories all the more if Remainers continue with their anti-democratic and idiotic campaign to return us to a failing EU family.”

It’s the columnist’s privilege to display such bias and ignorance – and then quickly move on without explanation or challenge regarding their “facts”.

We will not rejoin the European Union until there’s sufficient public support and a new referendum. How is that “anti-democratic”?

The support is probably there already and will strengthen further as Brexit’s harm increases and is recognised. Campaign groups such as Leeds for Europe serve to highlight this. How is that undemocratic?

Brexit advocates such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove sought a mandate for leaving the EU by selling a ‘soft’ Brexit – which included staying in the single market. But then cheated their supporters by delivering a ‘bait and switch’ hard-line Brexit with lots of never discussed downsides and none of the promised benefits. How democratic was that?

Sir Bernard further illustrates how extreme today’s Conservative Party’s become by calling Lord Heseltine a “Euro-fanatic…going (his) own daft way…since he walked out of Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1986”.

Lord Heseltine then continued his ministerial career under Mrs Thatcher’s successor, Brexit opponent John Major.

Today, Lord Heseltine is President of the European Movement UK – for which I’m a Yorkshire members’ representative.

He probably better represents traditional pro-European, more moderate One Nation Conservatism than the next 10 Downing Street tenant.

If that’s Liz Truss, then I have bad news for her: Sir Bernard reckons our campaigning means “the public …will abhor the Tories more”.

If she pops her head out a front window on Saturday September 10 then she will witness many thousands of protesters – our members among them – passing the Downing Street entrance en route to the National Rejoin March rally in Parliament Square.