Letters: Brexit voters in France cannot blame the Remain campaign 

To the Editor,

Richard Gibbs’ 'I voted leave - but I was wrong' accuses the Remain campaign of being negative, of not selling the advantages. 

This is somewhat naive. 

Remain was simply arguing for the status quo, which meant pointing out how leaving would damage the benefits, which for this purpose were clearly articulated. 

Mr Gibbs distorts Remain's arguments using Leave hyperbole:

• We would lose influence on the world stage becomes 'marooned'. 
• We would lose between 2% and 5% of potential GDP becomes 'economic Armageddon'. 
• Retaining free trade with our biggest market becomes 'not able to import or export anything'.

That he felt a ‘project fear’ or a hectoring suggests he was too influenced by the extreme rhetoric of the Leave campaign. 

Significantly, he misses the clinching feature of those less-than-honest Leave leaders: equating free movement (of Europeans!) with endemic British xenophobia and racism. Odd for someone with such strong French connections. 

No Mr Gibbs, please do not blame your own foolishness on the Remain campaign.

Christopher O'Hagan, Sarthe

Read more: Official site updated for how to renew post-Brexit French residency cards 

To the Editor,

The writer blamed a “negative campaign by Remainers” for his own misguided decision to vote for Brexit, but I would just like to say that the reason the Remainers seemed negative was because they could anticipate all the negative consequences of Brexit and could envisage the losses we would experience as a result of such a decision.

Brexit has been disastrous and the Remainers have been proved right. 

Brexit voters should just say “Sorry I got it wrong; you were right,” rather than try to find a way to blame Remainers for their mistake! 

Diana Ferguson, by email 

Read more: Nearly 7,000 Britons have been granted French nationality since Brexit

To the Editor,

I also voted out and I also regret it. 

At the time I worked at Birmingham Children's Hospital as a nutritionist working with cancer patients. 

Europe was enforcing more and more restrictions of holistic treatments and I voted for the sake of my patients. 

I could not face the thought of telling a child's parents I could not help them by offering them a natural alternative because of European rules, pushed by Pharma companies. 

I ruined my future though – I had no idea that I would not be able to work in Europe any more, or sell my art which was my outlet to wind down from the harrowing days in the hospital. I am now stuck in a 90-day cycle and cannot work when I am in Europe.

It has not made life better for anyone. I regret it every day.

Helen Gallimore, by email 

Did you vote Leave and regret it? Did Brexit have a positive or negative impact on your day-to-day life? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com