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Rhetoric of doom

Neil Mercer is correct to assert the EU Referendum was legally an advisory vote (SA April 10). However, that simply ignores the promises and assurances which transformed it from being a straightforward legal issue into something more complex.

The words of the then Prime Minister added a different dimension, he made it very clear that the Government would honour the referendum result (of course he thought that it would be to Remain) and he was joined by the Leader of the Opposition who said: “This is a one off vote...between staying in the EU or leaving completely.”

The leader of the Lib Dems went a step further saying “The public have voted and it’s seriously disrespectful and utterly counterproductive to say ‘Sorry guys, you’ve got it wrong. We are going to try again.’”

The key architects in voting down any no deal Brexit assured the electorate that they would not vote to block Brexit and that they would respect the Referendum result.

Even Labour’s Keir Starmer, a Remain voter said: “I would have expected the result to be honoured if we had won.”

Neil fails to see why the current Parliament should have its hands tied because of what the Prime Minister said. To which I would respond by suggesting that we should be leaving the EU (we really should have left already) because it’s what Parliament decided and what Parliament legislated for, and what a majority of the British electorate voted for.

Parliament voted for a people’s referendum, Parliament voted to invoke Article 50 and Parliament voted for the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Is Neil seriously asking the electorate to accept that 17,410,742 voters got it wrong when they voted Leave, or that a majority of MPs got it wrong on the three occasions they voted?

Of course people have entrenched views on whether the UK will be better in or out of the EUs political machine, but it’s also true that people have strongly held opinions on other things.

What happens in the real world is that the majority view prevails with protections for the views of the minority.

For my part, I have little confidence in any politician to manage a sweet shop yet alone govern the country.

But I do believe the claims of doom and gloom to be overblown rhetoric and totally unworthy of a sovereign nation which managed perfectly well after the collapse of the ERM and the financial crisis of 2008.

Des Morgan, Caraway Drive, Swindon

Voters will remember

Whether you voted leave or remain, the referendum was a legal, democratic vote.

It’s our politicians that are at fault. We put them in power believing they would do the best for the folk who put them there. Instead they are only looking out for themselves.

They need to know those constituents have long memories. By putting our country in the mess it is in because of their selfishness, we will pay them back at the ballot box.

Mrs Skeeles, Herbert Harvey Court

Comedy of politics

Did anyone else catch that comedy sketch the other night? I think it was called the Conservative Party Political Broadcast. If you want your rubbish collected vote Conservative.

Seven times since Christmas our rubbish has wholly or partially not been collected.

It went on to say of you want a low council tax vote Conservative.

How much did Swindon council tax go up last year? And we had a new parish precept added as well.

P Mazzotta, Eastcott Hill, Swindon