Brexit ‘sovereignty’ will cost three-quarters of NHS budget – Yorkshire Post Letters

WELL, we’ve got a free trade deal, and hoorah, we have also gained our “sovereignty” (The Yorkshire Post, December 28)!

I know some people think it’s a little tedious to talk about the effect on the economy when you have gained your “sovereignty”, but here goes.

In November 2018, Tory MP Mel Stride, then a Treasury minister, introduced the Government report on the long-term impact of leaving the EU to the House of Commons. It stated that, when combined with the present immigration policy, the long-term effect of a free trade deal would mean that GDP would fall by 6.7 per cent.

It showed that in 15 years’ time the Treasury will lose annually a staggering £96bn. Last year we spent about £124bn on the NHS, so it equates to losing three- quarters of the cost of the NHS each year. Inevitably, there will be less money for public services.

So, when the cancer patient has to wait weeks longer for their treatment, tell them not to worry, because they now have their “sovereignty”. When our children’s education is diminished, tell the kids not to be concerned about their future, because they now have their “sovereignty”. When the elderly person’s home-help ceases to come because of cuts to the service, tell them they should be pleased, because they now have their “sovereignty”.

From: Geoffrey Brooking, Saxley Court, Havant.

WHILST I and many other Brexiteers welcome the fact that we have in name left the EU, the fact of the matter is that by agreeing a trade deal that sells our fishing rights down the river and keeps 80 per cent of our economy connected to EU rules, Boris Johnson has only gone and done the same as Theresa May but with some added spin and bluster.

It is not a free trade deal at all because we cannot trade on UK terms. Therefore, with 80 per cent of UK businesses having to continue to comply with Brussels bureaucracy, Britain is not sovereign. What disappoints me more is that Nigel Farage has given the thumbs-up to the Boris sell-out without even reading the text.

From: Coun Nigel Boddy (Lib Dem), Fife Road, Darlington.

I WOULD like to be able to congratulate the Prime Minister on securing a trade deal with the EU. I am sure we are all very thankful for this good news. Most of the country can now look to the future since the PM has largely confounded his critics.

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