FURTHER to the letters last week of Mr Bass and Mr Curbishley, I would like to offer a note of balance.

When we joined the European Economic Community, it was purportedly on that, an economic basis. We didn’t join to be governed by a non-elected, self-regulating council, a council that would have its headquarters in two different locations, which would commute half-yearly, and allow itself to claim extortionate removal costs. We didn’t join to be governed by a council that, whilst enforcing monetary policy on member states, has failed to have an audit completed on its own finances; a council that would allow its many politicians to draw two salaries and have an immediate pension on retirement; who imposed a fine on a member state for violation of a trade agreement and then accepted its refusal to pay. In the UK we have an industry grown on Health and Safety, and our compliance; there are still States that do not have any expense from their budgets in this area solely because they have not, like us, created a Health and Safety executive committee. We are directed to provide overseas aid, which is prioritised in our budget, yet other states fail to address this commitment and then, strangest thing, again fail to pay any imposed fine. Personally, if we were able to divest those elements from our “economic” partnership then yes, I’d vote to remain. There were separation problems experienced with our existing trading partners with whom we were then prohibited to trade when we joined the EU, it is extremely short-sighted to think there would not be similar problems when we leave. Mr Bass refers to “a few million younger voters who had no say in 2016”, conversely, quite a few older voters who have dined at both tables are sadly no longer with us. My belief is, if we do not take this opportunity to take stock and re-evaluate, it will be lost; if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’re always given. It’s quite possible that in ten or twenty years’ time we may look to rejoin an Economic Community, but, within that time, we may also have been able to forge our own path with the rest of the world. I don’t know if I’m stoic or stubborn but, a majority decision has been made; to have a second referendum would only serve to increase uncertainty and further diminish our current standing at the council table. The greatest majority of the voting public will continue to support the government of the day in the only way we can, by continuing to pay our taxes, which for the most of us, unlike death, are unavoidable.

Paul Chapman

Amesbury