SARAH Murphy is sadly accurate when she described the shortcomings of our current MP in the Guardian.

We are additionally represented, for the time being anyway, by our MEP Mr Paul Nuttall, who also had a letter in the same edition.

He and I are never likely to agree on Brexit, but one point in particular needs taking up.

He states that one of the main reasons we (or 52 per cent of us, anyway) voted to leave was to make our own trade deals with whichever country we want.

He forgets to mention how difficult this is proving to be.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the country that by the time the UK left the EU on March 29 (now the end of October) he would have negotiated more than 40 trade deals to replace the ones we will lose.

How many has he actually achieved? Nine, and none with a major trading partner.

Two are with Chile and the Faroe Isles so that, as the economy goes down the drain, we will at least be able to console ourselves with a glass of Merlot to wash down some fish.

And how is he getting on with Donald Trump? Don’t ask.

You don’t believe the economy will go down the drain?

The Dutch prime minister recently confirmed that 46 UK businesses have already relocated to Holland, with another 250 companies in the process of doing so.

One of these organisations I know something about.

It is the European Medicines Agency responsible for evaluating and approving new medicines in Europe.

One of the UK’s few internationally successful areas is in medical and pharmaceutical research.

The EMA cannot legally be sited outside the EU.

It was in London and it’s now in Amsterdam – that’s 900 highly skilled jobs and a centre of excellence and influence that the UK has lost.

Mr Nuttall may also have noticed that three major foreign-owned car manufacturers have recently announced plans either to stop production in the UK or to shift the manufacture of new models elsewhere.

Brexit played a significant part in most of these decisions.

And of course that well-known Brexiter, Sir James Dyson, has shown his confidence in a post- Brexit Britain by moving not only the manufacture of his electric car, but also his company headquarters to Singapore. You couldn’t make it up.

Geoff Holman

Knutsford