In these columns people have argued that a No Deal Brexit is going to be fine.

Well it may be fine if you are financially secure enough to buy anything you need, but it’s certainly not fine for the majority of us who depend on public services.

Despite the seriousness of our situation, people are still allowing their thinking to be ruled by emotions rather than realities.

We need facts and here are a few important ones. As an EU member, the UK currently benefits from free trade agreements with more than 70 non-EU countries. Renegotiating these deals could take a generation, with no guarantee of successful outcomes.

More significant of course, is our economic relationship with the EU itself. In 2017 44 per cent of all our exports of goods and services went to countries in the EU; 53 per cent of all our imports came from EU countries.

Currently, free trade within the European Union promotes sales and jobs which in turn generate tax revenues. Taxes pay for our public services. Take away the free trade and you remove budget from schools, hospitals, social care, policing,

refuse collection and hundreds of other public services that people rely on. Many of these vital services are already at breaking point after a decade of austerity.

So if you’re still arguing for Brexit please desist from the casual myth-mongering and back up your assertions with facts. Alternatively, stand ready to shoulder the blame for ruining our public services for a generation. We’re all proud

of our country and want it to prosper, but we need to accept that we’ll only thrive if we have strong trading relationships. Since the referendum we’ve seen no signs that countries outside the EU are keen to offer us better deals and Mrs May’s negotiations

have now proved that we are not going to get a better deal with the EU than the one we have now. If our politicians are too paralysed to act on that reality then we need a People’s Vote - to show them that we want our governance to be based on facts, not fantasy.

Janet Scott

via email