BORIS JOHNSON claims that the fact that the UK Regulator has approved a Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the EU is a triumph for Brexit.

This is a lie, as the UK would have been free to do this even if we were still full members of the EU. Moreover, the UK regulatory process was considerably aided by the fact that, under the terms of the Transition Agreement, we continue to benefit from data-sharing with EU members.

Thus the reason we have the vaccine so quickly is partly because we have not yet fully left the EU! Moreover, as I have pointed out to HAS readers previously, thanks to Brexit we will be paying nearly twice as much for our vaccine as EU member states.

Hardly a triumph for Brexit, and most of its disastrous economic consequences are yet to come (particularly now that any possible US trade deal is a long way off).

Alan Jordan, Middridge.