TWO recent anti-EU letters published in this paper have prompted me to wonder at the seemingly widespread acceptance of Brexit as being somehow all done and dusted.

I sincerely hope this is not the case.

The UK, indisputably a European country, is currently a member state of the EU, and the widespread effects of any Brexit agreement reached with the other members would be felt by most people for years to come, not least in economic and social terms.

On the alarming evidence so far of the lack of a negotiating plan, the potential consequences for this country of leaving the EU could be anything from very damaging to catastrophic.

Times have changed considerably from the period when Britannia ruled the waves, although I'm sure the wealthy backers of the Leave campaign and now "hard Brexit" would be only too happy to return the country to the conditions of say the 1870s.

The marvellous trading opportunities supposedly ripe for the picking can only stem from a combination of nostalgic fantasy and wishful thinking.

More than ever during this period of terrorist attacks and worldwide political instability, the electorate needs to have its say on any proposed exit terms from the EU, when the awful truth of what the future could hold for this country outside the single market and the collaborative European alliance is laid bare.

Julie Probert

Hale