Lord Lawson fails to calm my fears

Philip Clews wins the Connexion letter of the month for August 2018 and a copy of the Connexion Puzzle Book.

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Lord Lawson’s contention that Britons living in Europe have nothing to worry about when the UK leaves the EU shows the same complacency and arrogance we heard so often from the Brexiteers during the referendum campaign.

Is there any doubt that Europeans will, in future, welcome us with open arms? Why shouldn’t they – except for the fact that we voted to exclude most of them from living and working in Britain.

Lord Lawson seems unaware of how much easier membership of the EU has made it for people to live, work, own property and start businesses in EU Member States. Let us hope generations of young people will not now be excluded from those benefits.

Perhaps even more startling is an admission that the UK’s future outside the EU depends solely on a future government’s ability to exploit the possible benefits. Could anyone who has witnessed the shambles of the Brexit negotiations have confidence in that?

The UK sacrificed its political status in Europe, along with free trading rights with 90 countries on the off chance “something better will turn up”. It seems like the politics of Mr Micawber to me.

CBI head Paul Drechsler, stated there is zero evidence of the wonderful trading opportunities for Britain to explore outside of the EU. We should cross our fingers and hope he is wrong.

Philip Clews, St Eloy-les-Tuileries