Reader Letters

A surprise general election could suit the Tories - and Boris Johnson will have the power to do it.

Readers have their say on the damage Brexit is causing Britain.

Pro-Europeans thought it was wrong to leave the EU - but they still want to see the UK succeed. 

It is beneficial for Labour to take up the fight for proportional representation.

How can we get PR 'done' to reform our electoral system and British politics?

Europe's leaders are human beings - they are just as fallible as anybody else.

Readers respond to calls to reclaim the Union flag from nationalists. I am, have been and will remain an admirer of Mitch Benn. However, in his article he explores why the Union Flag should be reclaimed from “the insular, the nationalistic and the xenophobic”. He then lists reasons for loving it and what it represents […]

Readers are split on whether The New European should focus on rejoining the EU, or whether more time is needed. Congratulations on getting the backers and arrangements in place to enable TNE to continue and move on. What I would like to see is more coverage on how we can get to the point where […]

There’s scepticism from readers that the next leader of Scottish Labour can save the Union. The answer to Maurice Smith’s question, in my opinion, is that the Scottish Labour leadership candidate Anas Sarwar will not. The problem lies in the way the question is understood and answered by so many of your contributors. They seem […]

As the UK government continue to negotiate Brexit with the European Union, readers ask where are the benefits? Isn’t it about time that the press began to hold Boris Johnson to account over Brexit? Northern Ireland and the current issue over documentation and checks will not go away which will only push us closer to […]

A route to rejoining the EU is possible, says reader Mark Sullivan. Judging from your readers’ letters, they are being too pessimistic on our rejoining the EU. Just because you can’t see the immediate pathway unfolding, doesn’t reduce the inevitability of market forces which resolutely point to this conclusion. How many commentators for example predicted […]

Readers analyse Brexit’s progress one month on and question whether it was worth it. As Mitch Benn humorously points out, in the face of incontrovertible evidence that Brexit is deeply damaging Britain, Remainers and Leavers must now be asking themselves what was the point of it all. Take the Brexit mantra ‘Taking back control’. It’s actually […]

Readers have their say on the EU vaccines crisis – and what it all means for the bloc. I think Paul Knott with his column was particularly prescient in his views about this ongoing debacle. As readers of this great paper are committed Remainers, it is really hard to reconcile the EU’s recent actions about […]

The SNP should not resist the prime minister’s visits to Scotland. Surely Nicola Sturgeon should have welcomed Boris Johnson’s visit to her patch? It’s difficult to think of anything more likely to further bolster support for independence and alienate more Scots. Maybe this is his first shot, and he’ll be back for a booster in […]

The prime minister of the Netherlands took responsibility for his government’s mistakes. Boris Johnson says he takes full responsibility for our 100,000 Covid deaths. Robert Jenrick says he’s proud of the many things the government has achieved in response to the pandemic. Really? Let’s just list a few of the arrant failures: to heed the […]

Last week was Holocaust Memorial Day, when we remember the millions murdered under Nazi persecution. This year marks 75 years since vital evidence of this was first presented at the Nuremberg war crimes trials alerting a largely unknowing world to the horrors that had occurred in concentration camps. Our great grandfather David Maxwell Fyfe was […]

Readers hope lessons will be learned from Donald Trump’s time in the White House. I have just read A Promised Land, the first part of Barack Obama’s autobiography. Time and time again, his refusal to countenance actions which do not reflect his values – those he set out very clearly during his election campaign – […]

Without Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales will need its own campaign to rejoin the EU. There us a simple requirement for a new political party with one objective: for England and Wales to rejoin the EU. (Scotland is going to do under its own steam, Northern Ireland has not left.) This is urgent […]

Readers are sceptical momentum behind Rejoin will come before the 2030s. I have just finished reading the excellent Brexitland by Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford (recommended in TNE some weeks ago). It provides an analysis, often of survey information over decades, of why the UK divided, and continues to divide, into two camps over Brexit. […]

Readers have their say on how to fix Britain after Brexit. I think Ian Dunt’s list has some excellent ideas  (“15 ways to fix Britain”). However, I take exception to the idea that the only issue with British ‘citizenship’ is its prohibitive cost for new applicants. The fact is, that having now ceased to be […]

Alastair Campbell’s article asking “What more could Remainers have done” (TNE 226) continues to prompt letters… Do not give up! A single pro-EU unified pressure group (not linked to any political party) is needed, ideally with a charismatic figurehead (but not a divisive politician). We need to attract massive funding (I am sure many in […]

A rethink is already needed over the government’s free trade agreement. It is already becoming obvious, less than a month in, that the current free trade agreement is not sustainable. As one example, Northern Ireland is severely disadvantaged in terms of goods imported from the rest of the UK and a number of hauliers and […]

One reader takes exception to John Bercow’s column on Donald Trump. I must take issue with one statement in the otherwise excellent article by John Bercow on ex-president Trump. Mr Bercow credits the SNP (among others) with recognising Trump as a malign force and calling him out for his bigotry from day one. Fake news, […]

Not all pro-Europeans think Keir Starmer got his position wrong on the Brexit deal. Desmond Fitzgerald (Letters, TNE #226), thinks that Starmer should be ashamed for whipping Labour MPs to vote for the Brexit deal, but I think Starmer was right: 1. The vote wasn’t Leave or Remain, it was between a bad deal (terms […]

Are Remainers right to move to campaign to rejoin the EU? Readers discuss. At 11pm on December 31, Twitter was again flooded with #FBPE Tweets. For some, it was a last act of defiance. For others, 2021 marks the start of a long term campaign to rejoin the bloc. To my fellow former Remain supporters, […]

Is it time to move on from Brexit and try to reunite the country? Readers have their say.  While I applaud the political logic and humanitarian sentiment behind Ian Dunt’s piece, I am finding it impossible to muster the love of country which he sees a key to post-Brexit recovery. Back in the distant times when […]

When Brexit inevitably goes wrong, who should take the greatest share of the blame? Readers have their say. Ian Dunt is right when he says “It is unsurprising that those who failed to stand up to Brexit are desperately trying to deflect blame when the damage rears into view”. However, I am not so sure […]

One reader is against the UK rejoing the European Union, despite being in full support of the project. As I read the columns in TNE #222 – and nodded sagely at Donald Macintyre’s analysis and absorbed the various arguments put forward for re-engaging with, if not re-joining, the EU sometime post-January 2021 – I gave […]

Keir Starmer must not be allowed to ‘fence sit’ on the big issue of the day. The leader of the opposition must stand up not only for the 48% who voted Remain but the overwhelming majority of voters and MPs (including most Labour members and voters) who opposed a no-deal or bad deal, the very […]

Is it time to take a leaf out of Nigel Farage’s book to force Rejoin on to the political agenda? Ian Dunt is right (“Time for this eerie silence to end”, TNE #222) that no party is currently advocating rejoining the EU. This puts those of us who campaigned for four years, or more, to […]

Readers have their say on the on-going Brexit and coronavirus crises. The pandemic has highlighted the need to compromise, cooperate and collaborate. Without compromise a balance cannot be struck between saving lives and livelihoods. Without cooperation communities will not work with the authorities keeping people safe and the economy supplying essential commodities and needs. Experts, including […]

Readers have their say on how Labour should vote on any Brexit deal. Let us assume, as Alastair Campbell does, that the government reaches a deal with the EU. It is sincerely to be hoped that the Labour Party does not support any such arrangement. To reject a bad deal is not only in the […]