Jonathan Freedland’s article (They’re openly saying it: Brexit has failed. But what comes next may be very dark indeed, 19 May) reinforced my exasperation, as an increasingly reluctant Labour supporter, about why Keir Starmer and his shadow cabinet persistently fail to grasp the implications and develop policies to rejoin the EU. As it becomes so apparent that Brexit has failed to deliver, surely an honest recognition of this, allied to clearly thought out strategies and policies to move back into membership of the EU, would make sense to voters, even in “red wall” areas (which are among those affected worst by recent policies).
Straight talking from leading politicians would contrast with the recent evasions and lies from the current government. Would the EU welcome us back? What would be the costs and benefits? For a start, it would discourage many Scots from pushing for independence if the UK were part of the EU again.
Somebody ought to be asking these questions loudly and clearly. I have squirmed as Keir Starmer has writhed about Brexit in TV interviews, desperate not to be seen as advocating that it should be reversed. But why? It is so obviously an issue worth considering.
Kate Purcell
Coventry