AS one of the 63 per cent of the electorate that did not vote to leave the EU, I am encouraged that nearly three-quarters of under 24-yearolds voted to remain, as did 50 per cent of all under 50s.

This was in spite of the leave campaign making claims which included the threat that large numbers of Turkish people would flood into the country if we remained.

A majority of older people tipped the balance. They have fared best as a group over the last ten years, and many do not believe that EU membership helped them. Employment prospects and jobs and the cost of living are the main concerns of people of working age and some of our younger folk are attracted by work opportunities outside the UK.

Many companies are multinational, and to many the tariff-free single market is vital, yet we are only likely to keep this if we accept free movement.

Attracting skilled labour has become more difficult as a result of the vote, and the attendant rise in hate crime is a stain on our country and has made more people think twice before coming here from mainland Europe.

Those who point to our good trading results should remember that we’re still in the EU, and it is future prospects which matter. The benefits of EU membership have been rather uneven between different regions, but it does no good to blame the EU for everything except the weather!

There is a big generational divide in this country, and future generations will not thank us if, as a result of leaving, we become more insular, divided and weaker economically, as seems very possible.

JH Robinson, Morton-on-Swale, Northallerton