I SEE that Oliver Letwin has decided to give us the benefit of his infinite wisdom over the Brexit withdrawal deal.

Having conceded that it will please nobody, he concludes that it is a sensible compromise. Presumably on the basis that when you are in a hole the best thing to do is dig more slowly.

I have to doubt his sincerity since he argued in favour of remain and knows that pressing on with Brexit will take many more years of negotiation and extensions to so called transition periods.

Why can’t he just be honest and admit that the whole Brexit fiasco has been a disaster from the outset.

The truth is that the voters on both sides had very little knowledge of how the EU operates and how closely the UK is bound into it after more than 45 years’ membership.

What they mostly did appreciate from personal experience is that increasing inequality in the UK, of class and region, has made their lives or the lives of people they know more difficult.

This meant that millions of people, who have been failed by the choices our own politicians made, were vulnerable to the lie that the EU was in fact responsible.

The electorate were sold a pig in a poke by fantasists who knew nothing about the EU except their own baseless prejudices.

Now we hear many of them saying they would rather remain in the EU than agree to this withdrawal agreement.

It looks highly likely to be rejected by the Commons, and the far more absurd notion of crashing out of the EU with no agreement would be intolerable to even more MPs.

So where does that leave us? Almost certainly the only way out for the government is a referendum, whether or not that is the current government or a Labour led one, following an election.

Some people argue that this would be undemocratic – what a bizarre notion that a democratic referendum is undemocratic!

This one should be based on reality now that it has become quite apparent that there was no possible arrangement that could have matched the benefits of EU membership.

A vote to remain would put an end to the all-consuming saga that has left government completely distracted from every important issue our country faces.

JULIAN JONES
Bridport Town Councillor, Green Party