MONDAY 19 AUGUST 2019

We’ve got a Brexit Party. So why

not a Remain Party?

Why is everyone dancing around the issue and using ever more elaborate

parliamentary arithmetic when the answer has already been provided and met met

with success? To counter the Brexit Party we need a Remain Party.

Such a party would be likely to be, broadly speaking, centre, left, social democrat, pro-EU, Green and
youth-orientated – which is a very attractive prospect for many who are weary of the old divisions and the
old guard. A thoroughly modern party for a thoroughly modern Britain.

Furthermore, if Brexit does happen it can always be undone by subsequent administrations. Nothing is
forever. It can be anticipated that re-entry after a few months or years would be predicated upon full-scale
Europeanisation – no rebate, adopt the euro, metrication, ever closer union etc etc.

Steve Ford Haydon Bridge

We need the sensible centre

Just what does Julie Partridge want for our country (The Lib Dems fall short, Letters, Saturday)? History
and the present show that extremism of right- or left-wing politics always produces extreme reaction, so
surely the middle ground is the most balanced and reasonable ambition for the majority of the population.

As for Brexit, the all-consuming nonsense of the past few years, the referendum was a badly thought-out
exercise oversimplified for an electorate who had no real conception of its consequences either way, and it
has become equally true that neither did our politicians or business leaders. They are finding out now.

Far too many voters responded to the lies, prejudices, bigotry and ignorance of the Leave campaign leaders,
and the Remainers failed pathetically to react with the vigour needed to counterbalance the donkey-led
campaign.

So now we will all have to live with the appalling mess about to be dumped upon us. Just look at the
wonderful trade deals we’re bragging about to offset our trade with Europe, and the best our government
can visualise is a sometime-never deal with that brilliant Trump-led USA that will never, ever behave as our
equal partner. How both countries became saddled with our respective leaders defies understanding.

The prospects for the next decade are depressing.

Vic Gaunt Bolton

Voices /Letters