IT didn’t take long for the Remainians to link the bad news that there are 21,000 more people out of work now than six months ago to “uncertainties over the referendum” and “the possible consequences of Brexit”.

This is another example of Project Fear.

There I was naively thinking it had something to do with the closure of several steel works, coal mines etc around the country during the winter and subsequent collateral damage to shops and other businesses close by due to lack of trade from those unlucky enough to have had their jobs taken from them by EU regulations.

Examples of where those jobs could have been saved by Brexit include: reduced energy costs to industry (the EU Energy Directive adds about 40 per cent to bills), more British orders to steel plants (EU procurement regulations mean foreign steel is more likely to be used in any given project), state aid is illegal (EU rules again) and the dumping of cheap Chinese steel which we can do nothing about while our hands are tied by EU red tape.

Question: where is the steel for the new rails for HS2 coming from?

I am not saying all the jobs could have been saved by Brexit but the chances are that a good number of them would have been.

The energy company npower is owned by a German company so being in the EU didn’t save the 2,400 jobs which were announced in March would be cut from their UK workforce.

Eileen Barker, Scrayingham, York