I AM delighted Labour has come off the fence and committed to keeping the UK within the single market and the customs union for at least the next five-and-a-half years.

Immediately after the EU referendum last year, The Press published my letter that included the following words: “To avoid the chaos that has followed the discovery that those wishing to leave the EU have no plan of action I propose the following.

“The government should undertake to adopt immediately exactly the same trading arrangements as Norway for a period of eight years to enable markets to stabilise and life to return to normal.”

Does that make me a genius? No. It makes me a realist.

I, along with many others, understood that the UK had no plan for Brexit, and no army of civil servants capable of either negotiating leaving the EU or creating new trade deals.

I still believe that leaving the EU is utterly pointless but at least now there is a good chance that the UK economy, the rights of workers and consumers, and the environment will be protected while we all try to make sense of the mess we are in.

Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York