Dear Editor
Whether you agree with him or not, you could never accuse Mr Britt of being boring – that is, until last week (“Vote would not heal issues”).
His rehearsal of the familiar and tendentious anti-EU arguments was both repetitive and tedious. If he made a visit to the EU Parliament in Brussels he would find a healthy and representative democracy working for the good of the whole of Europe.
Mr Britt’s list of the ‘crocks of gold’ lying at the end of the Brexit rainbow are pure fantasy. His approach to the economy will result in less trade, less inward investment and less growth, while our capacity to work with other countries to confront common challenges such as climate change and security, will be seriously reduced.
His trashing of the public sector, the civil service, politicians and constitutional experts generally has all the hall marks of the populist rhetoric now raised to a new art form by the likes of Farage, Trump and the assorted right wing extremists that are beginning to re-assert themselves across the world.
Mr Britt and his fellow right-wingers continually denigrate the popular public welfare institutions such as the NHS that have been established since the 1940s. Their approach degrades the social values of mutual help and respect that we in Britain hold dear. If we are not careful we will become more inward looking, more intolerant and more mean-spirited in ways that have been well documented in the media since the referendum.
Many of us detest the free market ideas that Britt endlessly expounds and which has messed up our society since the days of Thatcher. We do not believe in capitalism red in tooth and claw. We see the case for stakeholder capitalism, for the regulation of finance and for utilising state power to encourage competition and research. We recognise the role of trade unions and emphasize the importance of worker’s rights.
These are moderate European values that will not be advanced one iota with Brexit.
Currently, the politics of Brexit is wrecking the Conservative party because it has exposed diametrically opposing beliefs: nationalists against internationalists, and modernists against nostalgists. According to recent reports, more and more MPs are suffering mental health problems. This is hardly surprising when you realise so many Remain MPs are now being asked to enforce policies that they know in their heart of hearts are wrong.
Staying in the EU is the best solution, but if that is not possible, we must insist on a public vote to endorse any deal that is put on the table. Crashing out is not an option. That would be the ultimate betrayal.
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