LAST month, eight friends of mine (all men aged from 67 to 80) spent a long social dinner discussing the question: “Are you optimistic or pessimistic about your and England’s future?”

Each person had a say, then the chairman asked for a vote, which went eight nil in favour of being optimistic. The chairman said he felt that those present thought things are so bad right now, they could not get any worse.

I disagree with my friends’ views, as I am convinced that things will get far worse for England and for me, and that the future will be grim for a very long time, for a lot of people and their countries.

David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.