I VOTED leave in the 2016 referendum mainly because I wanted to give the London elite a slap, as it were.

However in the ensuing months I have realised how many economic advantages we in the North-East are set to lose if we do leave the EU.

I have realised that the hoped for reduction of uncontrolled immigration is not going to materialise because the majority of immigration comes from outside the EU.

In 2016, I didn't know that EU rules permit checks and balances on immigration. Why have successive UK governments failed to use those provisions?

In any event, I now appreciate how interaction with other cultures has made the UK the successful vibrant country that it is today.

If Brexit goes ahead, my children’s generation is going to lose out on the advantages that Freedom of Movement of Workers brings.

Perhaps more poignantly, I fear that leaving the EU could cause insurmountable problems in Ireland which could allow militant extremism and violence to regain a foothold in these Islands.

Is Brexit honestly worth risking peoples' lives for?

Surely there is only one possible answer to that question.

Brad Read, Ingleby Arncliffe, Northallerton