AS we appear to be approaching the much vaunted “disastrous cliff edge” scenario, perhaps we should ask ourselves: “How did we get to this?”

Part of the answer might, in part, lie in another question.

Has there ever been anything so divisive as the 2016 EU referendum?

I remember the first referendum to join the “Common market” in 1975 and I remember that I voted yes.

In the days following the result I do not remember a concerted campaign to overturn or even, simply ignore the result, by the opponents of the result.

But, here we are, over four years since the Leave-Remain debate and with the date of our exit from membership from the EU only days away, if anything, the obduracy of both sides seems as entrenched as ever. And the amount of abuse that is manifest across the airways and in print, particularly by the ‘losing’ Remain voters, shows little sign of abating.

In the coming months and years in post-EU UK, will we be residing in the Elysian fields or the Slough of Despond? If it be the latter, then should the Remain campaigners bear the majority of the responsibility?

The four year campaign by disaffected Remain voters, with calls to void the result altogether, or at least have a re-run, is obviously a lesson well learned by the Trump election managers. Even at this date the likes of Sir Ed Davey simply refuse to accept the result and openly claim that they will seek to reverse the decision, at the earliest opportunity.

Do they really believe that these campaigns have gone unnoticed in Brussels and beyond?

And when oh when, will they take ownership of their actions and ultimately, the negative results of their campaigns?

Malcolm J Glover

Lindsey Ave,

York