THE referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union is a once-in-a-generation chance for the people to have their say on the vision and direction of the UK.

If the EU continues as it has done, a federal union of 28 or more states will dictate economic regulation, manage external trade, demand a currency union, expand legal and law enforcement, social regulation and environmental standards, continue the unreformed common agricultural policy, have bureaucrats develop foreign policy, and expand EU security forces already amply provided for by NATO.

What has happened so far is that since the accession of the East European countries (2004-13), 5.3 million people from these countries have settled in the UK, and with prospects of increased minimum wage, continued Euro and employment crises, the refugee crisis, free movement of those with EU passports will continue apace. And if Turkey is given non-visa access to the EU in order to prop-up the Schengen deal, or indeed joins the EU, the complexity of the present behemoth of nations can only multiplies.

Remember, EU treaties have become almost impossible to alter as the numbers of members has risen, as David Cameron’s renegotiations, hardly now referred to, show.

The consequences define our future: the major source of UK population growth is from people not born in this country; the social, economic and legal framework, and the cultural and ethnic composition of the UK is altered and is altering at a rate that alarms many millions of people, is often done by default, and is unchecked.

We are net contributors to the EU to the tune of £19bn a year. We would control £9bn of our net contribution each year, which is set to rise with our GDP growth, and decide how to spend the full £19bn we send the EU each year. 

The European Court of Justice has increased in power as it now decides what EU treaties mean over and above our own Parliament and legal system. Recent referendum decisions, in France against an EU constitution (2005) and Holland have been circumvented by alteration in wording directives that achieve the same ends – hence the recent Dutch negative 2016 referendum on the EU and the Ukraine. It is clear that we cannot reform the club we are in and the prospects of doing so only worsen.

Would we join if we were out at this time? No! Should we leave, and take back control? Yes, of course.

BERNARD COOPER

Loyd Road

Didcot