Brexit.

Can somebody who voted Brexit please remind me of the real advantages as opposed to the promises.

Immigration: higher and plans from new government to increase numbers to help with the labour shortage caused by Brexit and covering every job from fruit pickers to doctors and particularly impacting hospitality.

Trade deals. Lots to replace the ones we had as a member of the EU and as far as I can see all slightly inferior. A damaging deal with Australia and the promise of an early trade deal with the US now put back for several years.

Economy: well where to start. Now on a par with Greece and on most criteria the worst in the G7. Just add on inflation, interest rates, cost of living, tanked sterling, growth rate or rather recession rate and pension reduction in real terms.

NHS: Any sign of the increased funding on the side of the bus? The increased national insurance contribution designed to fund the NHS and Social Care scrapped and anyway that was coming from the taxpayer not from some bonus from leaving the EU.

Northern Ireland: a real mess which threatens the Good Friday agreement and no one seems to have any idea what was Boris’s master plan to solve it. Oven ready has proved to be deep frozen.

Power of our courts: still seem to be subject to EU decisions in so many areas.

Sovereignty: do we have control of our borders? If so why do we need to divert people to Rwanda of all places with its appalling human rights record.

And then I read that the government is considering joining a political union being promoted by President Macron and including EU states and additional countries as well and I wonder what it has all been about.

Do we blame Brexit or the implementation of Brexit? And yes I do take into account Covid and Ukraine. Both very serious issues but it seems to me that our ability to deal with both would have been much better as part of a united EU.