I BELIEVE that the one major European statesman who would have appreciated Brexit was President de Gaulle of France.

He owed us, disliked us, mistrusted us, but probably respected us, and above all he understood us.

He vetoed our entry into the Common Market twice saying “it would be in the interests of neither Europe nor England”.

It took us 40 years to realise that the leader of the free French, who took France out of Algeria, was right.

A V Martin, Westfield Close, Wigginton, York