Be honest with voters to stop Brexit and Farage

The upside of the Brexit Party’s European election win is the chance for voters to discover what they really stand for (apart from “I’m tired of Brexit”, which is understandable).

Nigel Farage wants to destroy the NHS as we know it by opening it up to insurance sharks.

Ann Widdecombe wants to restrict abortion and bring back the death penalty.

Claire Fox has said she wants the government to lift bans on watching child porn and Jihadi videos online. Others believe in rolling back LGBTQ rights and deny climate change.

If they are to regain any credibility the (formerly?) major parties should spend the next weeks and months exposing views like these and explaining why they are wrong rather than scrambling to offer the most palatable version of Farage’s extremism.

Justine Hughes, Cambridge

The tragedy of this country over the past few decades is that successive administrations have pandered to populism (whether from tabloid newspaper editors or demagogic minority party leaders) rather than standing up to it.

So we have the Conservatives, who claim to be the party of business, afraid to explain to their members and the country that a no-deal Brexit will mean economic chaos that will destroy jobs, housing prices and pensions.

And we have Labour, the party of the NHS and social justice, afraid to explain to their members and the country that the EU and EU immigrants make a positive contribution to the British economy and prop up our health service rather than undermining it.

Real leadership is determining a strong position and then selling it

to the nation. What the Tories and Labour currently offer is an mish-

mash of noise which, as the European election results show, voters are now tuning out.

Joe Robinson

The mathematics are clear: At last week’s European elections the national Remain parties (Lib Dem, Greens, Change UK) polled 5,962,510 votes, rising to 7,032,459 when you add in the SNP, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, the Alliance and the SNP. The no-deal parties (the Brexit Party, UKIP) polled 5,792,996.

If you group the Tories, Labour, DUP and UUP together under a ‘leave with a deal’ banner, the split was: 41% Remain, 34% No-deal, 24% Deal.

How can Farage claim victory? How can Tories claim this is a mandate to “get on with Brexit”? What planet do they live on?

Suzanne Martin

When six million people signed the Revoke Article 50 petition, we were told it was meaningless. Now, when the no-deal parties poll 5.8 million we are told it means we should deliver Brexit. Go figure.

Corporal Jones, Thetford

The Brexit Party seems to have convinced a significant minority of voters that Brexit hasn’t happened because of a betrayal of democracy, treachery, and a weak, pro-Remain prime minister.

In reality the only factor that had betrayed Brexit was the illogicality of Brexit itself. It is Brexit that should have resigned, not the PM.

Now, of course, the Brexit Party leaders have got to be more forthcoming on what it stands for ideologically on key economic and political policies apart from leaving the EU, and that should be interesting!

Nick Vinehill, Snettisham

Dear Brexit Party MEPs, congratulations on your success. You have now got an opportunity to represent the UK’s interests in what is arguably one of the most influential parliaments in the world.

Whatever your aspirations for the world, whether it be defeating climate change, redistributing wealth or making a fairer society, you can influence more than 500 million people, reform the EU and make the UK’s presence in the world felt.

Or, you can just decide to leave and give up the voice you could have had.

Tony Howarth, London SW3

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