THE UK stock markets closed at the end of 2017 with the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 at record highs.

Let me make a little prediction: Brexiteers will seize on this to prove the markets are unfazed by Brexit, and that the experts and out-of-touch political elites were wrong.

Well, hang on a minute.

This surprising performance is a worldwide phenomenon, and other countries have done even better still. These rises are due to global recovery, not Brexit.

What reason is there to believe the gains wouldn’t have been even bigger if we chose to stay in the EU?

I don’t believe for a minute the Brexiteers can make such a case.

But intellectual honesty is unlikely to compel them to avoid making hay out of this.

As we all know, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics (misuse thereof).

Alan Robinson.

Lindley Street, Holgate, York