Harry Franks, of Swannaton Road, Dartmouth, writes:

I am sure that many of your readers will have noticed the irony of publishing a photo and article about the Battle of the Somme on the day that we knew we were leaving the EU – the momentous June 24.

You report that the death toll on the first day of the Somme was nearly 20,000. Let’s remind ourselves of Churchill’s Missouri speech in America in 1946: ‘The safety of the world requires a new unity in Europe, from which no nation should be permanently outcast. It is from the quarrels of these strong ­parent races in Europe that the world wars we have witnessed, or which occurred in former times, have sprung.’

Different as the time may be, those 20,000 will be turning in their graves to think that we have withdrawn unilaterally from a united Europe set up originally to stop the misery of war.

The outbreak of fascist, anti-immigrant crime and hate in the UK since the result has ­indicated that our tolerance is only skin deep. Much of the hate apparently now regarded as legitimate has been directed towards the Poles, who fought so valiantly with us in the Second World War; and who, in many people’s eyes, have filled vital gaps in our workforce in an unobtrusive and civilised manner.

I heard one of the Brexit ­leaders declare that ‘project fear’ was now over. To my mind, it has arrived in the shape of a lack of leadership, political malfunction, disunity, national selfishness, faltering investment, a likely further expansion of our already huge bureaucracy of 600,000 public servants and economic ­uncertainty. This for a trade-off for two very unlikely popular expectations – massive increased funding of the NHS and a massive decrease in migrants.

And all declarations from the Brexiteers talk about the United Kingdom.