LETTER: We are now seeing the benefits of the EU

Pamela Brown wonders if ‘there have been any attempts by EU negotiators to make our membership more appealing’ over the last two years (Letters, January 30).

I suspect part of the problem is the failure of successive governments over many years to communicate with people the many benefits of EU membership that we now take for granted.

We are now seeing the benefits as we prepare to lose them.

We daily hear of preparations for Brexit such as stockpiling trauma packs, that medications will begin to run out after first six weeks, that many finance jobs have already been relocated to other EU countries, with more actively planning the move.

I understand from the national news that schools have been told by the Department of Education that they must be ‘flexible’ in delivering school dinners if there are food shortages, and that the government is preparing for civil unrest.

The EU has offered a carrot, ruling that we have the power to cancel Article 50. In which case we could continue membership with our current privileged status while working together with other nations to develop and improve the EU from within and tackle the other big issues of our time together.

M Kendall,

Wheldrake,York

We just want Brexit nightmare to end

I think whether you voted Leave or Remain, most people want the present Brexit nightmare to end.

Thousands of civil servants, at the cost of billions of pounds, are being transferred from departments like Education, Health and Justice to work in the Department for Exiting Europe, meaning that 80 per cent of important parliamentary business, aimed at improving citizens’ lives, is not being pursued.

What seems to take priority now is reflected in funding for the EU Exit Emergencies Centre: tackling envisaged emergencies in a no-deal scenario.

Politicians like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg campaigned for Leave but did not expect to win and as is now clearly evident, had no plan.

No-one would leave their job, house or country if they didn’t have a clear positive plan for the future.

If you listen to their previous promises, they now sound hollow and misleading.

As there is still no plan, this present nightmare will continue for years as our economy continues to decline and the majority of us will continue to become poorer, especially as public services decline.

The only way to end this nightmare and the threat of a return to violence in Ireland is, in my opinion, to end Brexit and remain in the EU.

Helen Webster,

Main Street,

Fulford,York