I felt quite hurt by Giles Fraser’s column on “liberals” acting out of arrogance and self-interest in voting remain (Opinion, 18 January). I thought long and hard about whether all the UK, not just the prosperous south-east, was better off in or out. I questioned my motives understanding that living standards for most people were falling, the infrastructure crumbling, and housing and social care in crisis. On balance I decided remain, but if I was living in a community where a proud industry had been replaced by jobs for the day I might think differently. The suggestion that left-leaning remainers are hoping for Brexit to fail is unfair. As for the suggestion that a nation state is better at protecting and looking after its own citizens? Tell that to people of colour and Hispanics in the US.
John Byrne
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
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