David Blunkett right to warn Labour that election victory is not a given - Yorkshire Post Letters

David Blunkett needn’t apologise “for sounding like a record stuck in the same groove” (Labour victory is not assured, The Yorkshire Post, November 12).

Not while Sir Keir Starmer appears to ignore the kind of common sense to be found in Lord Blunkett’s column. He says Sir Keir can’t assume that Rishi Sunak will be as inept as Boris Johnson or Liz Truss – who gifted Labour large poll leads.

Labour needs policies that the public can support, says Lord Blunkett.

Shallow “Make Brexit Work” sloganeering doesn’t amount to that. It exasperates the pro-European majority. Fifty-seven per cent of voters back Rejoin (What UK Thinks) and 77 per cent of Labour supporters reckon leaving the EU was a mistake (YouGov).

Even Brexit voters now distance themselves from Brexit. Last week, pro-Brexit chief executive of retailer Next, Lord Wolfson, said: “In respect of immigration, it’s definitely not the Brexit that I wanted, or indeed, many of the people who voted Brexit wanted.”

Odd, if you think back to Vote Leave’s 2016 promises. “Let people in who can contribute,” says Lord Wolfson. But we did that – while in the EU.

Labour’s current position on Brexit is weak enough to be usurped by Mr Sunak, if he lives up to the “pragmatic” tag. There is a real danger that it will fail to enthuse potential Labour supporters come the General Election.

If that’s the case, Sir Keir will have only himself to blame – for not listening to common sense from the likes of Lord Blunkett.