Madam,

In last week’s Cambrian News, I noticed a letter under the heading ‘Mess we are in down to political elite’.

Few would argue with the proposition that politics in the UK are in a mess; however, I was surprised to read your correspondent’s analysis, in which he stated that “an orderly departure (from the EU) should have been simple” and placing the blame for the failure to ensure such an outcome on “Remainers”.

The UK has been part of the EU (and its predecessor, the EEC) for over 45 years. Surely it should have been obvious to anyone that it would take many years, perhaps decades, for the UK to separate itself fully from the EU. However, some politicians, most of whom could correctly be described as being among the “political elite”, proclaimed at the time of the referendum that leaving the EU could be done without difficulty.

We can now see that this is untrue; there are problems such as the Irish border, and the question of Gibraltar, which were barely mentioned during the referendum campaign but are now proving beyond the wit of our political representatives to solve.

Also, of course, the question of our future trading relationship with the EU has not yet been negotiated. It is safe to say that this issue will dominate political discourse in the UK for many years to come.

It is clear that none of the leading figures campaigning for a “Leave” vote had any coherent plan for how this could be done. I would also question your correspondent Chris Samuel’s assertion that the UK’s negotiating team were “mainly Remainers”. Liam Fox, Boris Johnson and David Davis all played a prominent part in the “Leave” campaign; Fox is Secretary of State for Trade; Boris Johnson was Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018; David Davis was Brexit Secretary from 2016 to 2018. Finally, your correspondent appears to blame our current and former MPs, Ben Lake and Mark Williams, for opposing Brexit.

Since both Mr Williams and Mr Lake have long made it absolutely clear that this was their position, and both were elected accordingly (as well as the fact that Ceredigion voted to remain in the EU) it seems odd, to say the least, for this to be described by your correspondent as “not believing in democracy”.

Yours etc, Rolant J Ellis Laura Place, Aberytwyth.

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