The EU referendum is an opportunity to show confidence in Britain
SIR – David Cameron (Comment, June 12) addresses those most likely to vote to leave the European Union – pensioners – with fear and threats.
He suggests that the benefits they enjoy could be at risk, implying that the UK Government has no control over them. He suggests that the recovery of our economy has been due to Brussels, not his government. If that were the case, why are so many of the EU states in such a mess?
We have the competence and expertise to stand alone. Let us use it and show Europe the way forward. Keith Taylor Hereford SIR – I reckon my bus pass saves me about £400 a year. I would happily forgo this if it gave future generations the chance to live in a country freed from the EU’s bureaucracy. Dr Alex Abercrombie Pembroke SIR – Whichever way the referendum goes, one hopes that the interest of Jean-Claude Juncker and his colleagues extends beyond the result.
If they look carefully they will see something which may be unfamiliar to them – an act of democracy. Mark Burnell Hexham, Northumberland SIR – On Wednesday George Osborne, the Chancellor, said that, in the event of Brexit, the UK would have no economic plan.
It appears that the Government does not understand that, in a referendum, you see both sides of the argument and plan for either outcome. Jonathan Grant-Nicholas Brassington, Derbyshire SIR – Many have advocated the “Norway option” in the event of Brexit, but it is worth pointing out that Norway is a member of the Schengen Agreement. This option would therefore give us less control over migration than we have now.
Emulating Norway is not going to satisfy the most ardent Brexiteers, for whom immigration is the dominant concern. They will have to find something else. Nicholas Flemming Brookwood, Surrey SIR – Can anyone explain why the Remainers are running such a negative campaign? Surely there are positive reasons for us to be members of the EU.
A glance at a world map should also puts the idea of “Great Britain” into context. On our own we will disappear. The EU is far from perfect, but we need to be working within it for improvement. Leon Jones South Shields SIR – The Leave campaign criticises the Remain campaign for stating that there will be tax rises and spending cuts if we vote to leave the EU.
These have been described as a “punishment” – but in fact they would be an inevitable consequence of leaving the EU. The UK is prospering now; and although there may be more immigration than some would like, it is not bringing the country to its knees in the way a Brexit vote would.
It is all right for wealthy Leave figureheads and supporters; they would not suffer the effects like the ordinary people in the country. Juliet Blackie Telford, Shropshire SIR – Dominic Brett (Letters, June 12) seeks to persuade us to stay in the EU on the assumption that the status quo will be sustained. Yet every year we see it inching towards a federal state.
The EU’s founders recognised that this process would take many years of gradual change, with the slow but relentless erosion of national sovereignties. Mr Cameron overlooks this, but it can no longer be ignored.
So that is my reason for wanting to leave the EU. It is clear now that it was never intended as just a trading bloc, and I do not want our country to be part of a federalisation experiment. Let us leave while we can. Terry Lloyd Darley Abbey, Derbyshire SIR – I listened with interest to
Question Time with Michael Gove on Wednesday night, and to a local debate on Tuesday evening.
It seems the Leave campaigners are increasingly arguing on the basis of speculative claims. Mr Gove claimed that we are contributing £20 billion to the EU, rather than the £13 billion we actually paid in 2015, apparently because we will lose our rebate in the future. He also reiterated that Turkey would join the EU, despite growing opposition. At our local debate Peter Lilley, the Conservative MP, argued that the UK would inevitably join the euro, and would lose its ability to decide whether it went to war.
There is no reasonable basis for any of these things happening at all, let alone in the near future. Surely, if and when there is any realistic prospect of them occurring, then that would be a time to have a debate about whether to stay in the EU or not.
Many of our children or grandchildren are not allowed to vote now, but would be when and if these things happened. They are the ones who will be affected throughout their lives by future changes within the EU, or by leaving the EU. Dr Andy Chapman Hertford SIR – There is political and economic turbulence throughout the EU.
France is riven with strikes, riots and demonstrations. The Austrians, totally ignoring EU law and vociferous protestations from Brussels, have erected a border control on the Brenner Pass motorway from Italy and are about to build a fence to check all individuals attempting to cross.
Greece is continuing to struggle with its debt repayments. Italy has severe banking problems. Germany has a migrant crisis, coupled with increasing far-Right agitation.
The single-currency euro is causing great concern within and beyond the EU. Is this a club we should be hitching our future to, rather than going our own way? Gerald Fisher Kettering, Northamptonshire SIR – Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I made the mistake of voting for the EU’s predecessor when Edward Heath assured voters that we were not entering a superstate.
I will not be fooled again. David Saunders Sidmouth, Devon