IN response to a previous letter about the EU from one of your regular correspondents, another regular wrote about the opportunity for lots of brand new trade deals, and then went on to list several countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The irony is that all of those, and many others have recently signed trade deals with the EU, from which we can currently benefit.

It seems that the only trade deal we might sign quickly is one with the USA, with which we currently have a trade SURPLUS. To make matters worse, to get such a deal we would have to reduce our food standards, open up our NHS to US companies and some of the most expensive drug prices in the world, and give the USA effective control over our currency - more so than the EU have ever had.

The final irony is that the one thing that might save us from the "America First" trade deal is our rejection of the "Irish Backstop", as the US Congress need to approve the trade deal, and its Democratic Party majority wish to protect the international treaty we signed up to more than 20 years ago, the "Good Friday Agreement".

It seems that we are about to move from being an equal partner in the EU to being a subservient partner to the USA under Trump. It's just a pity that we probably won't wake up to what we've done until it's too late, but hey! we can spend the next 40 years re-negotiating the deals and treaties we had, and watching the things we value and care about disappearing at an even faster rate, and wondering whatever happened to our sovereignty.

CLLR TONY TRENT

Alderney and Bourne Valley Ward