Increase in red tape proves we were better off inside the EU: Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Ken Cooke, Ilkley.
A handful of export tags at Cornwall shellfish merchants, Sailors Creek, on March 12, 2021, in Flushing, Falmouth. Shellfish fishers have appealed to the UK's environment secretary, George Eustice MP, to "urgently explore" help for the country's shellfish business, valued at £12million per year, which has been disrupted by new Brexit regulations. Picture: GettyA handful of export tags at Cornwall shellfish merchants, Sailors Creek, on March 12, 2021, in Flushing, Falmouth. Shellfish fishers have appealed to the UK's environment secretary, George Eustice MP, to "urgently explore" help for the country's shellfish business, valued at £12million per year, which has been disrupted by new Brexit regulations. Picture: Getty
A handful of export tags at Cornwall shellfish merchants, Sailors Creek, on March 12, 2021, in Flushing, Falmouth. Shellfish fishers have appealed to the UK's environment secretary, George Eustice MP, to "urgently explore" help for the country's shellfish business, valued at £12million per year, which has been disrupted by new Brexit regulations. Picture: Getty

Gordon Lawrence regurgitates the old myths about the EU (The Yorkshire Post April 21) though he forgets the straight bananas.

Before Brexit we enjoyed friction-free trade and open borders within the EU.

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Having closed our borders in a vain pursuit of sovereignty, we now have to complete all the red tape at the borders as a “third country” and need to employ some 50,000 customs inspectors and agents to enforce it.

Just to remind ourselves, these are 50,000 jobs that do not produce anything. They exist solely to process Brexit red tape.

He claims again that the EU is not democratic.

The European Council is composed of the elected leaders of member states and does he forget that Nigel Farage and his cronies were elected to the EU parliament?

Is our House of Lords democratic? Its members are not elected, consisting of privileged aristocrats, progressively supplemented by party “favourites”.

Sorry, Gordon, we were much better off in the EU.

From: James Bovington, Church Grove, Horsforth, Leeds.

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I DON’T know whether Gordon Lawrence deliberately misunderstands the thrust of my opposition to Brexit or simply evades the issue but his latest letter concentrates entirely on trade and finance as if our only interest in learning about other cultures should be to see how we might benefit commercially.

Conspicuous by its absence is any comment on opportunities lost by ending freedom of movement.

At the risk of being a broken record, I repeat nothing replaces the benefits of freedom of movement and I still await a Brexiteer such as Mr Lawrence to confirm that the Tories’ (with tacit Labour support) depriving my grandchildren of the accompanying social, economic, cultural and linguistic opportunities is a price worth paying for so-called independence.

Perhaps he might also explain how a spotty French teenager doing a bit of paid casual work in a bar in Sheffield threatens UK national sovereignty? Because thanks to Ms Patel there is no legal way now that she can.

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Mr Lawrence wants progressive, internationalist multi-lingual voters like me who want England to be a welcoming, outward-looking country to show dignity and integrity in accepting the reality of Brexit.

This is why I have asked repeatedly how to offer something comparable to what was lost.

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