Gordon Brown’s poor record on Europe

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/03/gordon-brown-poor-record-on-europe

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It is good that Gordon Brown has highlighted the ramifications of a range of Nigel Farage’s economic and social policy objectives (Journal, 30 May). However, there is still an urgent need for the remain cause to counteract the longstanding failure that caused many people to see his new party as a simple remedy for their legitimate grievances.

In many cases, they and their communities have been clear net recipients of EU funding – a fact about which politicians of both main parties have been regrettably coy for many years. It is highly unlikely that the EU-funded projects from which they and their localities have benefited would have been financed by Tory governments in power since 1973, and even more unlikely that they will enjoy similar largesse from a post-Brexit Tory government skewed further to the right in response to Farage’s populist agendas.

It is a pity Brown was not forthright in emphasising these facts during his time in office, and even more so that Jeremy Corbyn fails to do so now.Gerald DunningPontypridd

• Gordon Brown’s call to resist Nigel Farage’s attempt to “hijack British patriotism” betrays the mindset that gave us Brexit in the first place. When smoothing his path to become prime minister, he said we had to stop apologising for the British empire.

As PM, he absented himself from the signing ceremony of the Lisbon treaty to ingratiate himself with our Eurosceptic press. Like so many politicians, Brown did not challenge Euroscepticism when in power because it suited him to bang the drum of British exceptionalism and moral rectitude. It is no surprise that so many of his compatriots bought this ideology and voted for Brexit. Establishment politicians created the weather. They should not be surprised that the storm finally broke.Chris DonnisonSheffield

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