RE: Mr Ian Kirkham’s letter to the editor (Labour’s meltdown, February 28).

I cannot agree with Mr Kirkham’s theory as to Labour’s disappointing result in the December 2019 General Election.

READ MORE: Labour is in denial about losing the election

From Sir Keir Starmer to Labour Party members, Mr Kirkham believes Labour is in denial for the reason of their disappointing General Election regarding giving the electorate a choice of two options - in or out of the EU.

Personally I don’t meet Mr Kirkham’s criteria on three points: I am not a member of the Labour Party, I am certainly not in denial and I voted to leave in the 2016 referendum.

However, I did believe it was the right thing to do to allow the public to have a final say because parliament was making slow progress and couldn’t make their minds up whether to accept Prime Minister May’s Withdrawal Agreement or to reject it.

Personally I am not in denial as to Labour’s disappointing General Election result. However, I do feel Mr Kirkham is in denial when he refuses to acknowledge the real reason for a Labour defeat and a Conservative victory which was a formal agreement between the Brexit Party and the Conservative Party. This consequently resulted in the Brexit Party standing down their candidates from all Labour held seats. If the Brexit Party had stood in every constituency, Labour would not have been wiped out in Labour-held northern seats, and we might now have a Labour/SNP coalition government.

Ernie Mackenzie

Gammons Lane, Watford