Rejoining the EU is best solution for the UK: Yorkshire Post Letters

I haven’t “given up on rejoining the EU”, nor do we need to "endlessly relitigate 2016" as TW Jefferson suggests (The Yorkshire Post, March 11). Typical, out of context remarks from him.

Relitigation is unnecessary; we have a decade’s worth of evidence.Brexit has proven to be a disaster for our country.

The public has considered that evidence and delivered a damning verdict. Recent polling shows only around one in 10 of us now describe Brexit as more of a success than a failure. The Brexit campaigns are guilty of not delivering what voters were promised, leaving our country much worse off.

Mr Jefferson claims just 10 per cent of businesses export to the EU. Perhaps true, but typically highly misleading. That 10 per cent presumably consists of our largest firms, biggest employers, and main engines of GDP and economic growth.

Furthermore, many smaller firms that used to trade with the EU gave up doing so because of the huge volumes of extra bureaucracy imposed on them by Brexit. Remove that red tape, and maybe more firms will again be willing to give UK plc a bit of much-needed economic oomph.

Mr Jefferson asks whether the “fee” for greater EU participation will be worth it. The Confederation of British Industry previously calculated that we got £10 back in wider economic benefits for every £1 we paid in. So, the answer is a likely ‘yes’.

Finally, Mr Jefferson repeatedly weaponises the ‘Draghi report’ without explaining that it is the European Commission’s own proactive blueprint for improving the bloc’s performance - not a simple admission of decline, which is how he misleadingly tries to treat it.

Given Britain’s own lacklustre economic performance since leaving the Single Market, perhaps we are the ones in desperate need of a Draghi report.

Rejoining is still the ultimate solution for Britain. Progress may be slow, but at least we finally have a Government willing to abandon failed Brexit dogma and make some of the improvements our country needs.

Peter Auty, Great Hatfield.

It always amazes me when I read the totally biased letters, from members of this, that and t'other for Europe.

All riddled with might, could and supposition, and the way in which they turn things round to attack the Reform Party, Nigel Farage, Brexit, the Brexit referendum and Boris Johnson with impunity.

All the news concerning Russian and "others" interfering with our voting system is exactly that, supposition, nothing is/has been proven, but the different factions for Europe can't help themselves in their rush to use it to heap blame on the people who instigated or voted to leave Europe via the referendum.

There is never any mention of this Labour government and the sleaze surrounding it from the very top, a PM who accepted gifts for himself and his wife from party donors, the deputy leader and the chancellor both let down high office with tax avoidance issues, no mention of the Mandelson debacle, no mention of the U-turn after U-turn from our very indecisive PM. Their letters smack of desperation.