WHETHER you are a leaver or a remainer, there is one thing we can all agree on.

We have witnessed two years of utterly mismanaged Brexit negotiations with the EU, propelling us towards a breakdown of talks and a “no-deal” plunge over a cliff-edge.

Such an outcome is in nobody’s interests and not what any of us voted for.

Are we really happy about being told that the Government is stockpiling our food and medicines?

Did anybody put that on the side of a bus?

The British people are completely unprepared for the potential consequences of a no-deal Brexit: disrupted air travel, fuel shortages, power cuts (i.e. loss of internet connection), rising prices; quite apart from the thousands of jobs that will be sacrificed as commerce and manufacture relocate.

Even Mr Green concedes in last week’s letters that Mr Ross from Colchester could be right in claiming we are “all heading down the road to ruin”.

It certainly looks like the road to stupidity and self-harm in the short-term; and according to Jacob Rees-Mogg a 50-year wait to reap the benefits.

The younger generation must be thrilled at that news.

We are now six months away from “B-day” and there are still no fresh ideas on the table.

The British side seems unable to grasp that the EU is perfectly within its rights to protect its own trade, borders and interdependence. It’s how it was set up.

The more we repeat phrases like “taking back control” the more open we are to being sold a pup.

And if we walk away without settling our financial obligations we shall become a pariah, the EU will take us to court, and this will get us off to a fine start negotiating new trade deals.

Perhaps all this might matter less if our nation were in good shape.

But thanks to Tory austerity we have children starving, the disabled denied benefits, a prison service in crisis, the NHS and social care facing meltdown, a teaching profession losing new teachers every year, and transport infrastructure which is a disgrace.

These were some of the issues behind the Referendum vote: a lot of anger got projected on to EU bureaucracy.

The target which really deserved most of it was, and is, Westminster.

I believe it is vital we get a vote on the final deal.

We cannot buy into the fiction that our democracy was fixed in stone in June 2016.

As the full implications behind our leaving become clear - what it could actually mean for our lifestyle and for our young people - we all share a responsibility to pass judgment on whether we believe the Government has done all it can to secure a prosperous future.

On present showing I would not trust them to run a successful first week of term in a primary school.

Rev Canon Dr Graham Blyth, Rennie Walk, Heybridge