Letter of the week: Farage wants to dodge the blame for Brexit. We can’t let him

A genuine tour de force. I guess we all failed to state how much richer we became after we joined the EU, something never mentioned but backed by cold hard facts.
Christopher Harrison

A very good summary. Is there a chance it would be printed by the Telegraph or Mail? Of course not.
Dawn Ison

Nigel Farage no longer wants to talk about Brexit. Small wonder, given its failure now being reported by the world’s main political analysts, and so forensically detailed by  Jonty Bloom.

Keir Starmer’s refusal to explicitly acknowledge that failure has prevented its use as a potent weapon against Farage and Reform. Starmer’s departure gives Andy Burnham a real opportunity to embrace this weapon by pointing out to Reform voters the extent of the damage and clearly identifying Farage as the leading light in bringing it about.

It must also be pointed out that had Farage been PM we would have been drawn into Donald Trump’s futile war against Iran, with even further damage to our economy and global reputation.
Denis Jackson
Bournemouth, Dorset

Have any of the Brexiteers so brilliantly skewered by Jonty Bloom lost money, their home, their business, like countless people across the UK? And yet they are still to be seen pontificating in the media.

Lying, exaggerating or misleading knowingly should be a criminal act in political life because of the enormous burdens placed on ordinary citizens.
Michael Boyle

Jonty Bloom sets out an extremely thoughtful and well argued litany of Brexit’s disasters. What was missing is the impact that Brexit has had on families made up of British and EU nationals living here in the UK. In many ways we have been written out of the story. 

As a Brit married to an EU national, I have tried to raise the issue in my own networks, but have largely been met with embarrassment or no response. Yes, Brexit is about the economy, and much more, but most of all it is about ordinary people and their lives. Neither my wife nor I can feel confident in our future together in this country.

When some politicians suggest that those who currently have a legal right to live in the UK should have their status revoked and be required to go home – they mean us, too. But for the last 48 years together, we thought home was in Britain.
Revd. Cameron Kirkwood 
London SW16

Suggested Reading

A history of Brexit in 256 disasters

Jonty Bloom

Jonty Bloom should have included a section called Quality of Life. 

I have had ulcerative colitis since the late 1980s. This is an autoimmune condition that flares up due to exposure to chemicals in food. I do not take any medication, but keep it under control through diet, avoiding all processed foods and eating a healthy diet. 

For 30 years it was fine. However, it has flared up again in the last few years. Supermarkets that used to be full of good EU produce now stock tomatoes from Morocco instead of the Netherlands, and oranges from Egypt instead of Spain. 

UK farmers and growers are now allowed to use chemicals prohibited in the EU, and this causes problems. Our growers can spray their strawberries with the pesticide dimethomorphe, a substance that causes my gums to become sore and swollen; it does similar to my intestines.

There are other factors too. Since 2016, there is increasing misogyny and racism. People have been emboldened to say things on the streets we haven’t heard since the 1980s, making women and minorities feel less safe. 

We will never convince people to see our future in Europe by just focusing on the economic arguments. Brexit was won on emotional issues and that is the way to win the case for being part of the EU. 
Helen Rushby
Newark, Notts

In Jonty Bloom’s sports section, he might have added Britain losing its round of motorsport’s World Endurance Championship after Brexit. 

With most teams based in the EU (unlike F1 teams, many of which are based in the UK) it is logistically easier to get cars and personnel to Qatar and Bahrain than to get them across the Channel. 

With the equivalent French round – the Le Mans 24-Hour Race – attracting 350,000 spectators earlier this month, that’s a lot of lost tourist revenue.

Fortunately, the British round will return next year, but only because its organisers were prepared to guarantee a bond to cover the increased burden for teams, in terms of both money and needless red tape. 
Mick O’Hare 

Suggested Reading

Let’s make Farage wear Brexit like a badge of shame

Alastair Campbell

RE: Foreword by Alastair Campbell, TNW #487

A fair acceptance by Alastair that many ex-Labour voters won’t vote Labour again until a return to Europe is Labour manifesto policy. For those who puzzle over why the SNP remains in government in Scotland, there is half your answer.

Full-throated support for the EU, with the added bonus of being one of only two parties to contemplate independence for Scotland, is why the SNP does well and why Labour will continue to struggle.
David Morris

Rejoining, or “joining” in the official position of TNW, can only really happen if a party with a realistic chance of governing supports it in a manifesto, and of all the parties with the potential to achieve or keep power on their own, that is only Labour. I just hope it is brave enough come the next general election.
Richard Price

RE: “A very special edition” by Matt Kelly, TNW #486

Matt writes, “it wasn’t as mad as the idea 17,410,742 people had the day before; that Britain would be better off outside the EU”. Not every person.

Ten years ago, just before the referendum, I met a man who told me he was going to vote against the UK’s membership of the EU because, he said, “I want there to be a recession so I can buy a house”.
Phil Jones
High Wycombe, Bucks 

Suggested Reading

After Brexit, “the special relationship” became a weakness

Paul Mason

BELOW THE LINE

RE: “Even Farage’s threats won’t make me take citizenship”, by Marie Le Conte, TNW #487

I feel for you so much. You chose this country and have made it your home. I have friends in similar situations and they all feel somehow less welcome now. My other half is Irish and has Common Travel Area protections, although there was, again, talk that it could be reviewed. I despair. Please all stay.
Ginny Gilmore

As a European who has lived, studied, worked and settled in the UK longer than in my own country, I too refuse to become British. Why would I give up my identity? Why would I give up the right to roam in Europe without a second thought? 

My husband is English, my daughter is bilingual and I feel at home here. I too have felt the animosity rise since Brexit. I have faith that this country, which I love, will rise above it. We must keep the evil that the US has become at arm’s length. 
Ana Ambles

I’m feeling an urge to return to Canada after 50-plus years living in the UK, such is the hostility and uncertainty here. Dual citizenship isn’t much use to me. Some people are suggesting Canada joins the EU; it will be interesting if that happens. 
Audrey Bailey