Readers raise concerns over Labour’s position on a second referendum, the plight of UK citizens in the rest of the EU, the antics of Leave.EU and comparisons of a no-deal Brexit with the millennium bug

Keir Starmer’s assurance that Labour accepts that a Europe referendum would be “on the table” if parliament rejects any deal (or non-deal) negotiated by the government (Report, 24 August) is doubly welcome. It brings the party leadership far closer to the large and growing majority of Labour members and voters who take this view. And it offers the best hope yet that the madness of Brexit can still be averted. It remains for the party conference to confirm this major shift in the party’s position.

Dick Leonard

Labour MP for Romford 1970-74

• Next time you refer to “UK citizens in the EU”, please don’t put us in brackets as you did in your otherwise excellent editorial on a no-deal Brexit (24 August) – as if our EU-based livelihoods somehow matter less than those of EU citizens in the UK. I’m one of the 1.8 million British citizens living in mainland Europe; no deal will have a devastating impact on us. And it is our government, not our EU hosts, that will be stripping us of our right to continue living and working here.

Much as we’d love to hide behind brackets and beneath duvets on 30 March 2019, hoping no one here will notice that we have become “third country nationals” (who may or may not be granted a work permit, depending on whether a local can do our job), alas, that’s not going to work. Which is why we need you to continue writing about the 1.8 million British citizens (60% of whom were not allowed to vote in the referendum) who will be left with no rights, no representation, nor any means of redress if “our own” British government continues down the path to no deal.

Georgina Tate

Brussels

• You note concern about possible far-right infiltration of the Tory party to make Boris Johnson leader in a future leadership election (Editorial, 22 August). Surely most entryists will be weeded out by the rigorous process the party has to check on any Islamophobic or antisemitic statements potential members have made in the past 20 years or so?

Keith Flett

London

• I am one of those who has received Leave.EU’s emailed letter, addressed to me as a “supporter” (Rees-Mogg rejects offer of help from Leave.EU, 23 August). This surprised me, given that I am an ardent remainer and a Labour councillor and the email was sent to my councillor email address. Either Leave.EU is massaging its figures to claim greater support than it has or its database requires some work on it.

Keith Owen

Exeter

• Comparing a no-deal Brexit to the millennium bug (Larry Elliott, 27 August) trivialises the risks that Brexit presents. Thousands and thousands of people round the world – I was one of them – worked for years to ensure that the millennium bug would have no impact.

The problem was well-defined and the solutions to it were clear. Experts were given ample time and resources to do their jobs.

Now consider Brexit: the problem is vastly more complex, the desired outcome is still not known and there are scant months left to implement a solution.

It is a dangerous comparison to make, because many people will believe it. What is more, if we get Brexit wrong – which seems almost certain – the effects on all our lives will be far greater and longer lasting than any botched fix for the millennium bug would have been.

David Williams

Southampton

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