Steve Richards (Labour’s Brexit chaos is now so open it threatens to tear the party apart, 26 January) says Labour is hopelessly split on Europe. In fact, the Labour leadership’s position is all too clear: to cave in to the Conservative agenda of trashing our economy and threatening the opportunities of our young people.
Even Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesperson and billed as a voice of relative Labour sanity, suggests Britain should leave the single market and, even more quixotically, lauds Theresa May for avoiding a hard Brexit. In tabloid parlance, you couldn’t make it up. New studies suggest that Brexit could cost Britain up to £200bn over 15 years, while Tories are increasingly emboldened to argue that they will use the economic disaster of Brexit to shrink the state – causing massive cuts in public services.
Labour seems to be saying it will vote for article 50 even if all its amendments are defeated. Labour should get behind Liberal Democrat calls to vote against unless the people are given a say on the final deal. Labour needs to find its mettle and join with us to provide real opposition to the Conservative Brexit government, or we will have hard Brexit – and for that future generations will not forgive them.
Alistair Carmichael MP
Lib Dem member of Brexit select committee
• It is possible, and given the closeness of the vote last June quite likely, that a majority of people in Britain would like to live in a reformed EU but, understandably, were not satisfied with the deal that David Cameron negotiated. If that is true, and if it could also be shown that our European partners were prepared to make the reforms required to satisfy a significant number of leavers, parliament should demand a second referendum based on a new, improved option.
Immigration is the most important issue. The principle of freedom of movement gives citizens of any EU country the right to settle in any other, regardless of the consequences for the people already living there. That is a particular problem for the UK, or at least for England, a densely populated country already experiencing rapid population growth. If the problem were properly explained to our European partners, there is a good chance that as reasonable people they would agree to modify the present rules. We need time to explore this possibility. MPs should insist that the government overturn its decision to trigger article 50 before the end of March (Article 50: Jo Stevens quits shadow cabinet over three-line whip vote, 28 January).
Stephen Plowden
London
• Interesting that the “man of principle” Jeremy Corbyn imposes a three-line whip on the article 50 vote but not on Trident renewal. Presumably that is because even though Trident renewal is official party policy (unlike article 50), he knew he was going to vote against it. As a supposed man of honour surely, faced with that dilemma and voting against party policy, as leader he should have resigned. But I suppose that, given his own record, on article 50 he should allow his MPs to regard the whip as an irrelevance. No wonder the party is in a mess when the leader’s own behaviour over party management is inconsistent.
Norman Gowar
London
• Does Jeremy Corbyn believe he has no obligation to represent the 63% of the electorate who did not vote to leave the EU, not to mention his party members and Labour voters who voted remain? Theresa May’s Brexit folly will hit Labour constituencies the hardest. If Corbyn does not step down immediately, the Labour party should choose a new leader.
Margaret Phelps
Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan
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