YP Letters: Brexit must be put back to a public vote

BREXIT – is it worth it? That was the very sensible question asked by a journalist after listening to Theresa May’s Lancaster House speech last year. Now that we have seen the proposed EU Withdrawal Agreement, it’s a question we should all ask.

A flawed referendum, offering a simplistic Yes/No choice on a hugely complex issue, was promised by David Cameron, not because he believed it was in the national interest, but because he calculated (correctly) that it would buy off Ukip votes.

There was an ineptly negative Remain campaign, which did little to explain the huge achievements of the EU and the many benefits of membership.

There was a misleading Leave campaign, which made a number of untrue claims (e.g. the notorious £350m for the NHS, unfettered immigration from Turkey) and which may also have broken electoral law.

As the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons on Thursday, there are now three options: her deal, no deal or no Brexit.

The suggestion that either the fanatical Brexiteers or Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party could negotiate a better deal is, in my view, delusional.

This is a momentous decision that will affect the future of my children and my grandchildren – and their children.

Democracy did not come to an end on June 23, 2016. We now know much more about the implications of Brexit than we knew then. It is time to ask the people: is it worth it?

From: Bob Swallow, Townhead Avenue, Settle.

A GROUP of us were discussing the present chaotic political situation which suggests to us that there is a fair chance of a further General Election. Groans ensued!

Were that the case, we should like to suggest that the ballot paper contain a further box below that of all the usual suspects with the annotation ‘None of the above’.

It appears to us that there would be a strong possibility of attaining a majority in this case. An interesting situation. Any thoughts folks?

From: John Appleyard, Firthcliffe Parade, Liversedge.

AS I sit in bewilderment at the running of this country and the handling of Brexit, I have three things on my mind. Two of them are terms used in chess.

We appear to have reached a stalemate, and the second one is Zugzwang, where a player is left in an inferior position whatever move they make.

The third, unlikely scenario is that this has all been a bad dream, like the shower scene 30 years ago in TV’s Dallas when Pam Ewing awoke to find that her husband Bobby’s death had only been a dream and life returned to normal. If only!

From: John Van der Gucht, Cross Hills, North Yorkshire.

I AM not sure how far Keith Punshon (The Yorkshire Post, November 15) wants to go with his analogy likening the Treaty of Versailles, and its aftermath, with the current deal negotiated by Theresa May.

Does he envisage the rise and seizure of power by a far right group led by a firebrand leader, leading to war? But in the lead-up to the present political impasse, hundreds of thousands of people have not been slaughtered.

From: Dai Woosnam, Woodrow Park, Scartho, Grimsby.

SO Amber Rudd, the woman who resigned in disgrace having misled the Commons seemingly just five minutes or so ago over the Windrush scandal (and shamefully tried to blame it on her civil servants), has now been brought back by a desperate St Theresa of the Turncoats. Rudd, furthermore, is a woman who has not ruled out a second referendum.

The only conclusion I can draw is that the game is up for us Brexiteers. Brussels and its Fifth Columnists, led by the execrable Tony Blair and his “enforcer” Alastair Campbell, has won the day. And that day is a sad day for the independence of Britain.

From: Shaun Kavanagh, Leeds.

READING Tony Blair’s comments (The Yorkshire Post, November 16) criticising Theresa May’s Brexit proposal and Jeremy Corbyn’s inability to lead Labour, does Mr Blair forget he himself was criticised from every direction during and after his stint as Prime Minister?

He is considered by many as one of the worst PMs the country has ever had and should remember that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. He was considered a failure by so many and appears to be continuing in the same vein.

Mrs May has battled through an extremely difficult negotiating period in the UK’s history to try and deliver what the people voted for, even though the outcome will never ever please everyone. Perhaps she is not the “toughest cookie in the jar”, but who would be coming up against the idiots in Brussels?

As for Mr Blair wanting another referendum to try and reverse the people’s decision, where would that lead to?

If the outcome doesn’t please someone else, is there to be yet another referendum, then another and another? It’s ridiculous, the original decision should stand and the country should simply “get on with it”.

Blair is clearly an EU supporter, which became evident following his departure from No 10 so what is his agenda this time around?

Perhaps he should just walk into the sunset and spend his millions – millions those Labour voters he allegedly represented don’t have, and never 
will have.