Churchill did not intend for us to be a member of association

EU SUPERSTATE offers UK no common purpose or benefit.

John Catt’s letter - October 24 – responds to earlier correspondence and concludes with some fanciful notions.

The EU thinks it is a state, not an association. It has countless bodies controlling and directing with three main governing institutions European Commission, European Parliament and European Council.

The E Commission alone can propose legislation, budget and leads on international affairs. Its commissioners, one member one commissioner, are unelected and bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU rather than any state.

The EU common purpose, or at least its initial and current primary goal, appears to be the prevention of war (peace?) in Europe between member states.

This phraseology allows the barbaric Yugoslavia wars to be overlooked as the combatants have only since their war joined or applied to the EU and/or NATO.

NATO was formed in Apr 1949 to collectively defend its member states without intervening in a member state’s development.

The Council of Europe (Aug 49), the European Coal and Steel Community (Apr 1952) and the European Economic Community – Common Market (Mar 1958 & a forerunner of the EU 1993) all looked to prevent war between their member states by controlling their economies and making them so interdependent they were unable to wage war but no collective protection from non member state aggression. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Germany signed up to the initial EEC, ECSC, C of E and NATO treaties. NATO additionally had signatures of Denmark, Portugal, Iceland, Norway, UK, Canada and United States.

My vote goes to NATO as the past, present and future peace- keeper for its member states, currently totalling 29.

Benefits of membership? None are specified by John Catt and I consider that any that may be claimed could be realised elsewhere at our own initiative with other partners, possibly including the EU.

Corrections. The European Court of Human Rights was conceived and developed by the Council of Europe (a body with no connection to the EU) which still today appoints the judges.

The EU attributes its formation to 11 founding fathers, Winston Churchill being one of them.

In his Zurich speech 1946 Churchill did call for France and Germany to unite, stop Franco German wars embroiling Europe and form the nucleus of a United Europe.

He had previously spoken this view during WW2 when he gave it as a post war objective should the allies be victorious. He did not propose the UK to be an integral member of any association.

In 1950 he addressed the Council of Europe and developed this theme to propose the formation of a European army acting in cooperation with Canada and the United States.

Economics. No two economists can agree on what is the most important economic data measuring prosperity let alone how to calculate it. However the IMF and three other organisations consider that in 2017 the EU (incl the UK) had c.19 per cent of the global economy and declining.

In 1980 the figure was thought to be c.32 per cent and forecast to be c.17 per cent in 2022.

Without ignoring historical trade on our doorstep, opportunities must be developing elsewhere in the world once we get out of EU constraint. Arthur Shaw, Loughborough