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Why should Labour listen to Tony Blair after he campaigned against its leaders at the last three elections?

Getty
Getty

Reading from Tony Blair’s handout, you report: “Labour needs ‘fundamental reconstruction’ to survive, Blair warns to mark party’s 120th anniversary.” Reportedly Blair will also say “Out of 120 years, Labour has been in power for just over 30 of them.” Well spotted, Tony.

But why should the Labour Party take any notice of someone who actively campaigned against Labour leaders at the last three elections? In 2017, along with his chums and former ministers, he was arguably a significant factor in preventing Jeremy Corbyn increasing that number of years in which Labour was in government.

He will not rest until the party reverts to his style of central control with his pale imitation of the radical policies that brought the Labour party into being 120 years ago. We in the party must ensure that this troubled multi-millionaire never gets the rest he seeks.

Eddie Dougall
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Cheated, lied to and ignored

Sadiq Khan and Guy Verhofstadt are heroes for those of us who want nothing to do with this Brexit shambles and all it represents. There are millions of people in the UK who are mourning the loss of their European identity, who want to stay within the European fold and all it represents. We feel cheated, lied to and ignored. We represent half of the British population. This proposal of associated citizenship is at least something we can hold onto, if not the thing we really want – to live in a liberal, inclusive society with non-racist beliefs, part of the European community.

Associated membership would mean that my children and grandchildren would still be able to live, work and fall in love in Europe. My eldest son has a very wonderful Polish wife and, given the way things are going, maybe they will want to go and live in Europe. Then he will need his European citizenship.

My youngest son does not want to stay in Britain now because, in his words, we are “turning fascist”. He is reading physics at university, so as well as wanting to live abroad, all the presently joint scientific projects with our European partners are now threatened, so his job prospects are being decimated. How will he pay off the projected £60,000 worth of debts for his student finance?

All these young people are having their futures stolen from them. Associated membership would at least give them some hope of fulfilling their potential. My husband and I are getting on now and did hope to spend more time on the continent. Again this is going to be so much harder and more expensive, probably unfeasible, in Brexit Britain.

So I am massively in favour of this proposal which almost seems too good to be true. Can Europe continue to be so magnanimous in the face of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings and their nasty negotiations? I can only hope that this glimmer of hope in a very black future comes to pass.

Sue Colbeck
Machynlleth

Get serious

Labour needs to get serious. Following years in the political wilderness it has just faced its biggest defeat at the ballot box in decades, and yet nothing has changed. The leader is still clinging to his position for as long as he can, the same people on the shadow front bench and some of the contenders for the leadership applauding and promoting the exact same agenda that was so overwhelmingly rejected.

Meanwhile the Conservatives have moved forward with speed, reshuffled their own front bench and are making things happen with their comfortable majority.

If Labour is serious, it needs to start acting like it – removing the leader that led it to such a crushing defeat should have been done immediately. It needs to do this now, and put in a temporary leader such as Harriet Harman, to show it is serious about reform, and it should reject any continuity of the same agenda by electing a new leader who promises proper change. Whatever you think of Tony Blair, he was the last really successful leader and his warning that Labour needs “head to toe renewal” is sobering – the party needs to pay heed.

James Farrant
Ferndown

Productivity gap

I was recently invited to a family lunch with my elderly former neighbour who had downsized to a house in a nearby town. On enquiring after her seven grandchildren (ranging in age from 22 to 30), their parents informed me that the eldest had already settled into his own house and the other six were all at various stages of purchasing their own properties. Each one has received training in a chosen occupation, including hairdressing, stone masonry, nursing, timber-selling, garden maintenance, construction and railway maintenance. All began vocational training at school from the age of 14, integrated into the curriculum.

Perhaps this goes some way to explaining why the UK experiences its current immigration levels, as well as the gap in productivity between the UK and its French neighbours

Dominica Jewell
France

A clear message

Without any question the Labour Party has been given the clearest message in generations from the people of this nation. The extreme ideology blindly pursued by Corbyn and now Long-Bailey, and clearly rejected by the vast majority of our people, will further push Labour into the party of the marginalised few. It is essential for the success of this nation and in loyalty to its people that Labour get back to a position where it is trusted to provide a robust and credible opposition to the current government.

Kevin Porter
Address supplied

I want to stay European

Like millions of others I fought every way I could to remain in Europe. However, as the result of a referendum so flawed it should never have been considered legal, and an election that was handed to Boris Johnson and the Conservatives on a plate, we are on course for a no-deal Brexit, whch I believe will prove to be disastrous for our country.

Like other Remainers, including those who were too young to vote, and British people living in Europe who weren’t allowed to vote, I believe my identity to be European not simply British and now that identity has been pulled from beneath our feet absolutely against our wishes.

I am determined to remain European and for that reason am a staunch supporter of Stay European, a movement which calls for pro-Europeans to become associate members of Europe; a move which was staunchly backed yesterday by Sadiq Khan.

This would enable those of us who feel betrayed by our country to retain our rightful identity; to carry a card giving us associate membership of a unity we love. Not the same as living in a country that is itself a part of the EU but the next best thing and making our preferences absolutely clear.

We continue to fight for our rightful place in Europe.

Wendy McCleave
Powys

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