The EU gave us wealth and peace

SIR, – I refer to the letter from Mr Balgowan (P&J, October 20), and his assertion that our negotiators in Brussels should have some of the Iron Lady’s backbone.

One thing we can be certain of is that Margaret Thatcher would not be negotiating with anyone to take Britain out of the EU, nor would any of her MPs. She was in favour of the EU and of Britain’s membership of it.

Winston Churchill was also in favour of a union being formed between all the countries of Europe, as he made clear in his speech to the University of Zurich in 1946.

Europe experienced what could only be described as a bloodbath in the first half of the 20th Century. The wise politicians in charge of our destiny in the 1950s and 60s who instigated the concept of a common market would have lived through, or fought in, the World War Two. There is no doubt they would have envisaged the Common Market not only for its economic benefits but also as leading to a legacy of peace.

Apart from the Balkan conflicts, both those benefits followed.

We live in a very uncertain world, with Donald Trump in one corner and Vladimir Putin in the other, and let’s not forget the current state of the Middle East. Thatcher, Churchill and their peers, were they still around, would be appalled at the prospect of Britain leaving a successful association with Europe at such a delicate time. WG Murray, Kirkton, Golspie, Sutherland