The Devon for Europe meeting last Friday in Totnes was a polite Q&A session on Brexit. But I was disappointed to observe not a single Eurosceptic among the panellists.

Another notable absence was a lack of the presentation of evidence in terms of facts and figures, by anyone, to support their statements. The whole thing was just personal ­opinion.

Julie Girling MEP talked about the fishing industry. She claimed that the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy had saved fish stocks and, if abandoned after Brexit, there would be a disaster.

Remember quota-hopping, dumping and drift-net fishing etc by huge European boats in the waters of some of the ­poorest nations of West Africa, where income is around $1.25 a day? She either grossly ­misrepresented, or displayed huge ignorance, of the history of our fishing industry and the CFP.

The 2016 referendum result, with Leave’s winning margin of four per cent, was yet again criticised, by Jacqi Hodgson, as “derisory”. However, The Guardian recently reported the re-election of Milas Zeman to the Czech presidency, ­commenting that he won by a “thin but decisive margin” of only three per cent. If three per cent is decisive, then so must four per cent be.

Former Lib Dem MEP Sir Graham Watson, commenting on the EU “peace dividend”, said wars start because of the inability to trade easily between countries. Interesting.

Would he therefore now be willing to support the Government’s attempts to get a free-trade deal with the EU and persuade them to stop obstructing “easy trading” by their ­continuing demands and stonewalling?

Nigel Costley of the South West TUC, claimed that Brexit implies fear of immigration and that this is equivalent to racism. Isn’t this the logic of ‘birds have wings, bats have wings, therefore bats are birds’?

Happily, no one mentioned Donald Trump.

Ian Phillips

Moreleigh Road, Harbertonford