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‘Eye-watering’ cost of leaving with no deal

In the thirty five years I have been reading the Adver I have never read such an ill informed, no simply wrong, letter as D N Simpson wrote in our paper on April 4.

Where to start: We will not be leaving the EU on April 12.

If we did not pay the EU £38 billion we owe the EU we would lose our credit rating and borrowing would be eye-wateringly expensive.

We would not get all our territorial waters back as France and Spain would dispute large areas of them and continue fishing, protected by their navies.

There will still be restrictions and quotas as the fish stocks are at an abysmal level.

Banning European diesels would not bring down carbon emissions as diesels use slightly less fuel than petrol cars. It might improve the value of second hand cars, but this would increase carbon emissions as second hand cars are less efficient.

Food shortages would not cause a reduction in obesity as this is caused by cheap ready-made food and stodgy foods that this country produces, such as potatoes.

There is no wine lake or butter mountains as these problems were solved in 1984 - ie milk quotas.

Foreign criminals can be deported at present but this would not bring down the prison population as they would still have to serve their time.

Or we could send them home without them being punished.

Mr Simpson says 17,400,000 have been labelled stupid, ignorant or ill informed, well 17,399,999 of them haven’t just shown they ARE ill informed.

Steve Thompson, Norman Road, Swindon

Why so reluctant?

Excellent to see MPs doing their job on Wednesday (April 3) in voting to force the government to delay Brexit and avoid a no-deal.

Their job as our elected representatives is to make decisions on our behalf. They have determined, based on all the evidence in front of them, that a no-deal would be hugely detrimental to the economic, political and logistical interests of their constituents and the country.

I feel embarrassed that a country with such a great international reputation as the UK would even consider walking away from its agreed international and financial commitments.

As Caroline Lucas pointed out in Parliament yesterday, such recklessness is hardly going to prove our trustworthiness to other countries around the world, who the Brexiteers optimistically assure us are desperate to sign trade deals with us.

The disingenuous argument that a no-deal is essential to force a good deal out of the EU has proven false.

Despite the billions we have spent preparing for a no-deal Brexit, the EU have been perfectly frank that they have finished negotiating.

Nearly three years on from the narrow result in the advisory referendum of 2016 (in which the winning side broke electoral law) it’s increasingly obvious that a confirmatory vote is the best way to implement the final terms of Brexit.

It’s a mystery to me why Brexiteers are so reluctant to hold another referendum.

If the country still wants Brexit then they will win and their mandate will be massively strengthened. Or perhaps the country has changed its mind, as democracies have the right to do.

Either way, it’s the only way to enable us to move on from this issue which has created such chaos and disunity.

Neil Mercer, Maidstone Road, Swindon

Betrayal of Brexiteers

Much as it goes against the grain to burst fellow Brexiteers bubbles, I must take issue with some of their statements in Thursdays Adver.

Theresa May’s deal was rubbish and I was surprised when Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris folded and voted for it. The PM claimed her deal ensured the UK had control of its borders. This is untrue, the 310 mile border between South and Northern Ireland will be totally open to unchecked immigration.

The backstop means we are trapped in a customs union, so can’t make our own trade deals with the rest of the world without EU OK. I can’t understand how Ireland is being allowed to block Brexit.

The UK has to hand over £39 billion as a thank you for talking to us. That’s three “red lines” gone for starters.

We actually had a strong negotiating hand but the Prime Minister failed to use it. Parliament’s job was to accept the referendum result, as promised, and honour it, not constantly undermine it. What idiots took no deal off the table?

That tells the EU to offer us nothing and we still won’t leave. The mind boggles!

True Brexiteers have been totally betrayed. Parliament is not fit for purpose.

Just out of interest, all readers should research the ITV programme of 7th June 2016 Cameron and Farage.

Cameron tells the live audience that the referendum vote is for “you the people” not the politicians, and the result will be honoured. This is true, watch it .

Fear not Brexiteers, if the 11.4 million leavers play their cards right and vote for the new Brexit Party at the next general election we will walk it, and smash the current two party system for ever.

Alan Spencer, Swindon