The Reader: Don’t assume Leave votes have changed

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Shift: could Leave voters change their views?
In Pictures via Getty Images
8 April 2019
WEST END FINAL

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I recently asked my many Brexit friends (I voted Remain) whether in view of the mess and shambles caused by the Government over Brexit they now wish they had voted Remain. Only one of my friends said they had changed their mind.

Others made comments such as “If we had given the job of leaving the EU to Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg we would have left it by now. It would have been easy.”

“We shouldn’t give a penny to the EU. They should be paying us”, “I don’t care how much it costs, we should leave without a deal if necessary.”

This is hardly a sign that voters are changing their minds over Brexit.

We are in for a bumpy ride.​
Huw Edwards

FOR Leavers simply to write off everyone who backed (and those who now back) Remain is not democratic. There is a petition of over six million signatures, which cannot be ignored.

Likewise, the march in London should not be ignored either.
Richard Grant

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Huw

IT’S true that, to date, not many Brexiteers have changed their minds. But I sense that is all about to change.

This weekend one of the leading Brexit commentators, Peter Oborne, explained why he had changed his views in a long, powerfully argued piece for opendemocracy.net. He now thinks Brexit will be a great “disaster” for our country.

I hate to recommend an article by someone who has been so rude about many public servants I admire, even more so as it’s not written for this newspaper, but needs must in times of national crisis: it’s worth a read.

George Osborne, Editor

Emissions zone is premature

Today, private-hire drivers across London will start paying £11.50 a day to drive customers in the congestion zone. This is a bid by the Mayor to encourage use of zero-emissions vehicles, which are exempt from the charge. But where are businesses like ours expected to buy congestion-charge-exempt vehicles suitable for private-hire use? They are just not being manufactured in anything like sufficient quantities.

I admire the Mayor’s ambitions but this is all premature.
Jonny Goldstone
Green Tomato Cars

We live in the age of suicide bombers

Professor Fawaz Gerges’s review of my book The Price of Paradise: How Suicide Bombers Shaped the Modern World was generous, but it also implied that things are getting better. He cited only 10 attacks “in Western countries in 2018 compared with 168 at Islamic State’s height in 2016-2017”.

This is true, but there were more than 250 suicide attacks globally last year. Since their first use in 1881, more than 40 per cent of those killed by the suicide bomber have died in the past five years. I reiterate — we live in the age of the suicide bomber.
Iain Overton

Why are train operators back-pedalling?

As new trains come into use, it’s a disappointment that our current mania for cycling has not been factored in.

Spaces for bikes on commuter trains are being dramatically reduced, and the red tape of pre-booking has now been introduced. Even leaving a bike at the station is almost impossible.

The capital may be putting its best pedal forward but train operators are back-pedalling.
Mark Adamson

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