I intend to remain a remainer, thankyou

I VOTED remain in the referendum and would do the same again, given the opportunity. I accept that significant mistakes were made by the EU over vaccines. However, the issue over the Northern Ireland protocol was reversed very quickly and our vaccine supplies from Pfizer will continue to be provided.

The mistake was against a backdrop of Johnson having recently said that “we will have no problem invoking Article 16” (as the EU did, briefly) and where our own Internal Markets Bill broke international law in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol. So we, in the UK, have not always been helpful. Remember also that we were wholly reliant on vaccines exported from the EU at the start of the roll-out and that this is still an important part of our supply.

Politically, if we import vaccines we should be prepared to export them. I have little doubt that we would have been making strong representations if supplies of the Pfizer vaccine into the UK had been disproportionately held back.

This will pass, but the longer term damage of Brexit is far more serious – many small businesses are finding the border friction with the EU and associated costs makes them less competitive. Manufacturing is seeing delays in supply chains. It is increasingly clear that this goes beyond teething problems.

Our trade is closely linked to the EU and now we have weakened influence over EU decisions. Most importantly, the loss of opportunity for the next generations is my major reason to still prefer to have remained within the EU.

Michael Carter Exeter, Devon