Has the ‘heat and anger’ from the UK’s relationship with the EU really dissipated? - Yorkshire Post Letters

David Cameron claims the “heat and anger” from the UK’s relationship with the European Union has dissipated (The Yorkshire Post, December 15). Hasn’t he read your letters page lately?

Looking back, much of that negativity came from one side – stoked by unpleasant, reactionary parts of the pro-Brexit British media and political establishment. Sadly, they’re still there…pushing clickbait lies for personal, narrow-minded political ends or profit.

Sometimes their language of hate and delusions of “revenge” or “betrayal” even creeps onto your letters page.

The EU’s approach has arguably been much more “British” – keep calm and carry on: Rise above perplexity, provocations and petulance from British politicians and keep asking directly and clearly what it was we actually wanted.

Yes, there was initial shock at the referendum result. “Bregret” wasn’t just a British thing. But the Europeans were willing to move swiftly on to the kind of “friends, neighbours and partners” relationship Lord Cameron talks about. Britain just couldn’t keep up.

Any frustrations expressed were with a UK that couldn’t decide what it wanted from Brexit. The Leave campaign was all slogans and unicorns – no plan. The mess we ended up with was created by those cluelessly pushing Brexit lies; with an eye on their own ambitions but no idea or care what it meant for our country.

The only Brexit gains now to be had are from undoing it. In your same December 15 edition, you have a column from science minister Michelle Donolan celebrating the UK’s readmission to Horizon – “the world’s largest research collaboration programme”.

Good. But we were in it while an EU member, and should never have left. One of the next steps must now be rejoining the Erasmus+ study and training programme. A year before his EU deal, Boris Johnson accused an SNP MP who feared we’d quit Erasmus+ of “talking through the back of his neck”. But Mr Johnson led us out nevertheless, throwing young people’s opportunities under his bus and chucking the Brexit extremists another bone. That’s betrayal.