At least two of your readers in the run up to Christmas were commenting on Britain leaving the EU and there were a couple of points I would like to correct or comment on.

Firstly, on the question of sovereignty, the government’s own white paper entitled “The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with Europe”, dated February 2017, states quite clearly that the Parliament of the UK has remained sovereign throughout our membership of the EU.

We never gave up sovereignty so it’s not there to regain.

Perhaps, in the name of honesty, ‘regain’ should be replaced with ‘retain’ - though this would remove one of the most frequently stated reasons for leaving.

Secondly, in July 2017, Liam Fox said the free trade agreement with Europe should be the easiest deal in history. Apparently not. Maybe it’s just someone else’s fault.

Perhaps he should blame David Davis who turned up to just four meetings in Brussels for negotiations, empty-handed and armed with nothing more than his rapier wit. I wonder why he was unable to achieve any results.

Thirdly, your reader claimed we are ‘too fair’ in our negotiations.  This “fairness” included, from the outset, labelling as bargain chips EU citizens who have legally made their lives here.

It is a fairness exemplified in the illegal, and with deception, banishing of innocent people of the Windrush generation, (invited here to help rebuild post-war Britain) to countries where they have no home nor family.

This fairness’sounds more like the behaviour of the nation that was an eager and early adopter of the concept of the concentration camp - the British, in case you had not guessed, were the third country in the world to view this is a great idea at the start of the 20th century. True early adopters. 

And when it comes to fairness in negotiations, what about the suggestion that the EU should “go whistle!” when it comes to paying our share of expenses we signed up to?

This is as dishonourable as it is stupid for a country hoping to demonstrate to other markets what a trustworthy and desirable business partner we are.

But then perhaps “go whistle’ is probably the best we can expect from a man whose whole career has been built on bluster and a proven disregard for truth and integrity.

Our politicians rely on our short memories - Owen Patterson (“only a madman would leave the Single Market” 2014);  David Davis (quoted in Hansard as saying We should not ask people to vote on a blank sheet of paper and tell them to trust us to fill in the details afterwards”).

They sell us bluster and a (frankly unappealing) dream of a life from the 1950s with few foreigners, the remains of empire and forelock tugging.

Perhaps they will also promise a return of rickets and polio before laying the blame at the feet of “them”.

But in reality “they” - the fiendish EU - have not played hardball. They have simply and consistently made it clear that no non-member shall have more rights or better access than an EU member.

We, with our obsessive exceptionalism, have expected them do so, just for us, just because “we’re nice”.

Finally, my thanks and respect for Edward Frewin’s gentle and thoughtful letter of December 28. It strikes the right tone in a way I find myself too saddened by the behaviour of my country to do.

 Peter Whitby, Bossington.