0

In the 1930s almost 10,000 Jewish children arrived in Britain, escaping Nazi persecution. Britons rose to the occasion, quietly and without fuss. There is no reason why this could (NOT?) happen again, if only compassion WAS/WERE allowed back into public discourse.

Got from The Guardian. Can someone help me with the words I capitalized? Should "not" be there? Should it be "was" or "were"?

Fluffy Sheep
  • 1
  • 1
    The Guardian's sub-editing is notoriously lax, so much so that it is sometimes referred to as The Grauniad (or Graun) in the UK. If it sounds wrong, it probably is wrong. – Mick Oct 22 '16 at 12:05

1 Answers1

0

IMHO:
NOT should be there. As in "there's no reason not to go"
WERE - as in "if I were you", subjunctive mood(?)

tum_
  • 741