Rishi Sunak may have to placate his party (Sunak tries to pacify Brexiters but keeps door open to closer EU ties, 21 November), but we the people don’t. We were never asked to vote on a hard Brexit; the consequences were just not explained. Did the Brexiters consider the labour shortages and economic consequences, or the effects on Northern Ireland? It seems unlikely. Even now, when we are suffering from the financial catastrophe caused by Brexit and the financially illiterate extreme-right ideologues, we have not been told exactly what the “great opportunities” of Brexit are and when they will materialise.
What the country needs is a rational dialogue on which measures would work best – a Swiss-style or bespoke agreement – and consideration of the suggestion by the CBI chief, Tony Danker, to relax immigration rules for much-needed labour and skills.
Marisol de Lafuente Duff
London
• In the middle of the last century, some writers on religion included the communism of the Soviet Union and its vassal states when referring to quasi-religious cults. Simon Jenkins rightly applies the phrase to Brexiter fanatics (We may not be heading for a Swiss-style Brexit deal, but Sunak must face reality, 21 November). Such cults have often teetered on the edge of magic, and the belief in Brexit dividends does indeed come close to believing in fairies. As long as this cult is represented in the House of Commons and its members receive the Conservative whip, it is inevitable that our rulers will fiddle with Tory party management while the country burns.
Geoff Reid
Bradford
• Simon Jenkins avers that “politicians of all parties clap their hands over their ears and scream, ‘Brexit is over. Forget it’.” Wrong. The SNP doesn’t, and it is the third largest party in the UK parliament.
Helen Swann
Glasgow
• Could we stop talking about a Swiss-style solution please? The Swiss are far from resolving their relationship with the EU. The protracted framework negotiations to replace the hundreds of separate agreements previously in place broke down last year.
Since then, Switzerland has been downgraded to a “non-associated third country” in the EU’s Horizon Europe framework programme for research, resulting in it losing its influence. The country has lost many other access privileges too. There is no easy solution to be found here.
Beatrice Türler
Wilmslow, Cheshire
• Zoe Williams’ piece on the anti-Brexit mood taking hold in the country was nicely optimistic (Most Britons now think Brexit was a bad idea – the government just hasn’t caught up yet, 21 November). But still the petition to parliament to rejoin the EU is only at a miserable 14,167 as I write this. Where are these people who want rejoin the EU? My guess is that they’re simply not aware that there’s a petition. Could the Guardian highlight this with a campaign perhaps?
Where are the thousands who marched in October? Where are the Liberal Democrats? They must have more than 14,167 members alone. Where are the young, the city dwellers, anybody and everybody who wants us to finish this mad Brexit experiment? This petition should be in the millions, shouldn’t it? C’mon, let’s do this thing, let’s reverse it.
Nye Gibbons
St-Martial-sur-Né, France
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