THE description of the EU as inflexible (Letters, June 20) will raise a wry smile on the faces of those who were involved in the two celebrated occasions, under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, when the UK as an EU member negotiated substantial changes in the conditions of our membership.

Those UK ministers currently in Brexit discussions with EU officers will be asked why it is when the UK as a member was historically able to convince other member nations to grant special modifications in the EU’s articles of association applicable to the UK, we have felt it necessary for us to give up membership and then try to force through changes in the articles of an association we no longer wishes to be a part of.

At least we now know what Brexit means.

It means elected politicians avoiding their duty to review and amend treaties with other nations, by giving to its citizens lacking any experience or expertise or evident knowledge of international negotiations, the right on a whim to abrogate such a treaty.

Maurica Vassie, Deighton, York