Why must we bale out other countries?

If this is the case, why the heck are we having to bail out Ireland to the tune of £10bn and now Portugal with £8bn? Whose turn next: Spain, Italy or will it be our turn to be bailed out?

I was no fan of Gordon Brown, but the one good thing he did was not to adopt the Euro. It just isn’t working, as all the countries of the European Union have different interest rates, rates of inflation and growth rates.

It would appear that the only country to be doing really well is Germany.

The hundreds of thousands of European workers coming here have not really helped our economy as much as the Government would have us believe. A lot have worked for cash – such as women working in domestic households. But, at the same time, they are benefiting from our NHS and benefits.

They are entitled to these things under EU law, but Britain is not getting any benefit.

Why waste millions of pounds on a referendum on whether to adopt an alternative vote electoral system when there is no guarantee that any candidate will get 50 per cent or more votes?

The referendum we need is the one we were denied by both Labour and the Conservatives on Europe.

The Government’s argument for immigration is to replace all the Brits who are emigrating.

What they don’t say is that all these people were honest taxpayers who helped keep the country afloat, and are leaving because they are so displeased with what’s happening here.

Those who are coming into our country are not replacing the revenue lost, but are costing those of us who are still here.

It is time for the Government to listen to the electorate. It is their fault that by cutting funding to local governments, we are experiencing cuts in services.

Stop giving billions to foreign countries. It’s the taxpayers’ money they are wasting, not to mention the lives of our service personnel in futile wars.

MICHAEL CLARKE, Lewell Avenue, Old Marston, Oxford