Have to agree on a united Europe

I do so agree with Giuseppe Enrico Bignardi (Feedback,

November 15) about the advantages of a united Europe. Brexit didn’t create xenophobes overnight, but it did seem to give permission to the most extreme of them to erupt from the shadows. We witnessed this

in the days after the June ‘16 referendum, when poisonous verbal and written abuse was meted out to citizens of other EU countries who, up until then, had been living and working here peacefully. Voters from both Leave and Remain camps found this appalling.

My father served in Bomber Command during WW2, and he was strongly in favour of the European Union, having seen

first-hand the destruction caused by war in Europe. He would have been deeply upset to see us withdrawing from the union he felt was vital to peace.

We’re giving up our seat at the table, and our influence, not only in Europe but across the world. I feel there is a political and ideological divide forming, and at present we are on the wrong side.

ANNE LEE, Ponteland