Madam,

I usually find Patrick O’Brien’s fortnightly comment column interesting and informative and often agree with his point of view but his anti-Brexit remarks cannot go unchallenged.

He states that the June 2016 referendum was a vote ‘in principle’ to remain in the EU or leave. This statement is totally untrue and outrageous.

I think Mr O’Brien should be reminded of the actual wording on the voting slip on referendum day, 22 June 2016. It stated quite clearly 'Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?'. It then asked voters to place their cross if they wished either to remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union. It is very clear, concise and leaves no room for anyone to misunderstand its meaning and what is meant by it.

For the record, the remainers polled 48.1 per cent of the national vote and the leavers 51.9 per cent, with the Welsh remainers polling 47.5 per cent and leavers 52.5 per cent. And of the 22 Welsh constituencies, five voted to remain and 17 voted to leave. Whilst some people might not like the result, in a democracy the majority vote carries the day.

Some remainers, including Mr O’Brien, take the view that a democratic voting system is only acceptable when it delivers the decision that suits them and the EU has a track record of this when in their opinion they get the wrong decision. They make countries vote again until they get the right decision.

The UK did not collapse the day after the vote as many had predicted, in fact two of the most ardent remainers, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, and Mark Carney, the present Governor of the Bank of England have admitted recently that their doom and gloom forecasts were incorrect and they are not the only ones.

The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world. Apart from the 27 countries remaining in the EU when we depart who, despite what the bureacrats in Brussels say, will still want and need to trade with us, there are another 167 countries in the world most of whom are open for business including 58 (almost 28 per cent) in the commonwealth so we have a great future ahead of us once we are free from the shackles of the bureaucratic dead hand of the EU.

Yours etc,

Alan Hansell, Gorslwyd, Trefenter.

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