Many of Mr Neimer's points (letter May 17) were already answered in my previous letter, which he has not fully read.

His four million margin of victory for Leave is wrong . The actual figure was just over 1.2 million (17.4 to 16.2 million), which is marginal, as I claimed. Perhaps Mr Neimer was confused by the 3.8% (nearly 4.0%) alternative description of the margin.

Giles O'Bryen (May 18) has given a clear refutation of Mr Neimer's confusion about the function of the European Commission. Mr Neimer's continuing attachment to his view is a sad reflection of the way a drip-feed of dishonest propaganda has poisoned democratic discourse.

Most serious of all, however, is the failure to grasp the fundamental ethic which underpins democracy. Most depressing is the extent to which Mr Neimer is far from alone.

The legal and moral framework of democracy, whether traced from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or from the earlier claims of the European Enlightenment (in which Britain played an important role), takes as basic premise the equality of each individual person as a human being. Among the human rights that this implies is the right to be effectively consulted about matters of concern, and the protection of those human rights.

Voting is merely a short-cut, not the fundamental. A vote does not trump other rights. Once the voting process is corrupted (as it manifestly has been) its legitimacy is immediately in doubt. As I pointed out in my first letter, both major parties have conspired in this, and that is partly why we are facing a serious democratic failure.

Those people who seek a "no-deal" Brexit betray the interests of the substantial (and they were substantial) majorities for remaining in the EU in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Gibraltar (the latter being a neglected part of our SW constituency). In particular, the breaking of the terms of the Belfast Treaty, which is implicit in no-deal, is a basic betrayal of British good faith and leaves the Catholic minority once again vulnerable to the bullying of the Unionist majority, as was the case in the 1960s (leading up to the Troubles), and to which the DUP and its sympathisers long to return.

Barry Tempest

Romulus Close,

Dorchester