THE editorial in the Echo (Oct, 22) was spot on in regards to the silence of David Cameron.

But perhaps he doesn’t want to admit the truth about his abject lack of leadership in the years leading up to the Brexit referendum.

Remember this is the man who promised to stay in post regardless of the outcome but was on his way out of Number 10 before the morning papers were out.

But it was his huge arrogance and ignorance that led to the situation we are in today.

That’s especially true in relation to the debacle in Northern Ireland.

He hardly visited the province – it was a standing joke that on one of the rare occasions he visited he had to be home by tea time to play tennis with Boris.

He compounded the problems when he appointed two of the hardest Brexiteers as Secretaries of State and they failed to do the most basic thing when working within Irish politics and that is not to take sides but act in a balanced way to all political parties.

Sadly, despite warnings from the Irish government of the huge problems that Brexit would deliver he told the civil service in Northern Ireland not to do any preparatory work in the event of a leave vote.

Those warnings were echoed by cross Parliamentary groups such as the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly.

And now his successor is hoist on Cameron’s petard by formalising a pact with the DUP to force through Brexit against the express wishes of a majority of the population in Northern Ireland.

The editorial speaks of Cameron’s silence. That’s okay he has nothing to say worth listening to.

Dave Anderson, Former Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Middleton in Teesdale