THERE are several reasons why the EU is a bad idea.

Firstly, as a sovereign nation we are free to join, and unjoin, as we see fit all sorts of international organisations, but to be locked into the EU whose principal reason for being is evercloser supra-national union is inevitably to espouse an extra tier of undesirable government.

As Steve Hilton says, it makes our country less governable, and us less sure about our government.

Secondly, every day there are more Eeyore predictions from ‘Remain’ presidents of this world something or other, and chief executives of that international corporation.

It seems that even 40 years after Schumacher’s ‘Small is Beautiful’, we are still infatuated with size, and these panjandrums are convinced that size determines our ability to design, make, and sell a better mousetrap: they are not just pessimistic, they are wrong.

By GDP, the UK has the fifth biggest economy in the world, and is only six times smaller than the biggest, and yet we are constantly being told that only membership of the EU will save us from financial disaster.

In the commercial world, there are many very successful companies that are a million times smaller than their rivals in the same market.

Of course there are some activities that require huge financial muscle, but mostly size is not the determining factor when it comes to advantages like innovation and flexibility.

Can anyone seriously believe that with the fifth biggest economy on the planet and with our heritage and experience, the UK cannot stand on its own very capable feet?

RICHARD MARTIN Filkins