Sir, – While the support of the Northern Area Committee of the Communist Party of Ireland for a "left exit campaign – a Lexit!" may not shake the foundations of international capitalism, it is worth looking at left-wing perspectives on the referendum (June 7th).
The Communist Party of Great Britain, which opposes plebiscitary democracy as a Bonapartist tool to exclude the masses, calls for a boycott of the “inherently anti-democratic” referendum. In advocating a Brexit, the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) quotes Lenin – “a union of imperialist states can only be a reactionary entity – and it can’t last”. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Vienna.
Sir, – While Lynda Walker (June 7th) is correct to point out the ideological diversity of the proponents of Brexit, her opposition to the EU is perhaps enmeshed in reasons surprisingly similar to the rightmost wing of the British Conservatives.
It should not be regarded as a coincidence that the more extreme poles of the ideological spectrum, both on the right and the left, disagree fervently with the idea of the European Union, one of the only outlooks the two groups share. The institutional structure of this supranational organisation is designed in a manner that requires an enormous degree of consensus to adopt any proposal, with a very intricate series of votes and referrals between the European Parliament and the European Council. The requirement for very broad coalitions of support to produce any legislation is one that has inevitably favoured the larger parties of the political centre and creates added difficulties for smaller, more radical parties in achieving their agenda.
Whatever the principled arguments proffered by the right and the left against the European project, it is perhaps wise to be aware of the more pragmatic reasons for their opposition. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTOPHER
McMAHON,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.