Labour party members need to give Keir Starmer their support
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Your support makes all the difference.Keir Starmer has made it clear that his prime objective is to secure a Labour government. All members of the Labour Party should give him unqualified support in that difficult endeavour.
I voted to remain in the EU in the referendum and was deeply saddened by the result. A discussion by Labour about rejoining the EU is a distraction and unrealistic.
The public is heartily fed up with the subject, which is largely why Boris Johnson’s Get Brexit Done slogan won the election for the Conservatives. An election is unlikely to be held before 2024 and who knows what the world will be like then.
Maybe leaving the EU will prove to be a resounding success. Maybe there will be a widespread view that it was a huge mistake. Let Labour wait and see, and in the meantime give Starmer the support which he deserves.
Anthony Slack
Rochdale
Brexit questions
Stephen Lynch’s piece on what Brexit has delivered is the first I’ve seen where a confirmed Brexiter tries, without trotting out meaningless cliches, to explain the benefits of our regained “freedom”. Yet pretty thin gruel it is!
He begins with “the Brexit WE wanted”, so no reference to what the country might need or want. Then quotes a couple of obscure Norwegian and Swiss groups who think our deal is great. Then a few vague references to sovereignty and lawmaking.
Then he shoots himself in the foot by spelling out the remaining uncertainties, financial services, security arrangements etc.
So, we went through the last four years of mayhem for this! We “will prosper mightily” with this deal, we are told. We’ll see, but I’m not holding my breath.
John Daintith
Chew Magna
To Mr Lynch, if Brexit is so good for us then why have I, an insurance broker, had to tell my clients in Ireland that I can no longer act for them from the UK?
Imagine if a shopkeeper had to ask the nationality of each customer and be unable to sell his/her wares to an Irish person. Well that’s what has happened to me. It means I earn less and the firm I work for earns less, and so less tax is paid to our government for those essential services we all need.
It took me more than 15 years to develop these trading links. Thank you for destroying them. And no, I am highly unlikely to be able to act in the same way for a firm in India or the US. If you need me to explain why to you then it shows you don’t understand what Brexit has done to people like me and how financial services such as insurance work.
T Foster
Colchester
Vaccine valiance
Though not in favour of the monarchy, I have great respect for the Queen – she has been doing her job diligently and very well for a long time. And I must applaud her making public that she and Prince Philip have had their vaccination.
It's the duty of all of us to accept the vaccine when it's offered, to at least prevent ourselves becoming very ill, and reducing the likelihood of infecting those around us. But more important now is the need to keep ourselves out of hospitals which are creaking at the seams.
Susan Alexander
Frampton Cotterell
Hyphen help
To John Rentoul – I enjoy your Sunday columns on style and usage over the preceding week's issues of The Independent.
This week I question one statement in your section about the newspaper's use of hyphens. My understanding is that "three quarters" refers to three definable parts out of four equal parts, whereas "three-quarters" refers to a fraction, a proportion of a (scattered) number. The latter, not the former, is appropriate in the context you mention.
Fun, isn't it?
Julia Hart
Address supplied
Trump isn’t a victim
I am not sure that impeaching Donald Trump is a good idea. He is doing a good job of reducing his credibility with his supporter base by backing down on the protest he incited at the Capital. Why make him a victim?
Removed from office he stands a better chance of getting a pardon from a would-be president Mike Pence.
Jon Hawksley
London
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