Stance taken by London, Rees-Mogg and his fellow Brexiteers will inevitably lead to the break up of the UK

Jacob Rees-Mogg ('˜The United Kingdom will quit the EU as one country, whatever Brussels might desire,' Mar 3) writing in the Belfast News Letter roundly condemns the EU and Michel Barnier for 'egregious act of aggression by the European commission ... that a friendly European state should be dismembered at its behest'.

I assume he is referring to what his own government also agreed to in the recent discussions on stage 1 of the Brexit negotiations. But he is wrong.

His government agreed to ensure that Northern Ireland and the Republic would continue to have no hard border.

And they agreed that if all other options such as a free trade agreement or some form of technological solution fail then the ‘backstop’ would be that Northern Ireland would have to stay in the customs union.

So to avoid a border in the Irish Sea and the dismemberment of the UK the only option is for the entire UK to remain in the customs union.

That way there would be no hard border and no border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

The integrity of the UK would be maintained and the benefits of there being no border to the entire island of Ireland would also continue. But despite all his wonderful education at Eaton and Oxbridge Rees-Mogg fails to understand this.

Or pretends not to understand. It is not a case of the EU trying to dismember the UK.

It is the UK government doing their damnedest to create a situation that will inevitably lead to the break up of the UK cheered on by Rees-Mogg and his fellow hard Brexiteers.

Joe Griffin, Mountshannon, Co Clare