Laurence Parkinson, of Southville Gardens, Kings­bridge, writes:

In response to Michael Sturdee’s letter, Gazette, May 13, your initial premise for the then urgent need to move on after the war by promoting trade may be correct, but what we have now is far from that and the Common Market I voted for way back. Then it was a Franco-German ‘club’ of seven. Look now – it’s a Franco-German club of 28.

Prosperity? Tell that to the Greeks, the Irish, the Spanish and the newbies, who haven’t all managed to gain the benefit promised. And don’t forget those in the UK on zero-hour contracts and in the black ­economy, who get nowhere near a minimum wage. It is estimated that there are more than a million people in the UK who are destitute. It is an obscenity, not prosperity.

Trade compromised without EU? Take the motor vehicle trade. The French buy French cars, the Germans buy German cars. Both have healthy sidelines selling their products within their ‘club’. There is, as with many other products, an overall positive trade balance with the UK. We are a cash cow for Europe and the rest of the world. It is inconceivable that this trade would cease should the EU survive. Despite being told that this country is broke and in need of austerity, we are the fifth-largest economy in the world.

The EU is not Nato. If the EU reacted to an incursion like it has handled the migrant crisis, we would all be lost. Nato is the lynchpin of Europe’s ­security, and then only at the behest of the main players.

Sovereignty and free ­movement? It’s okay taking a high moral stance and allowing the privilege of free movement. But with that also comes responsibility. It is quite clear that the concept and implementation have been ill-conceived. Again, not what I envisaged, even when John Major signed away our sovereignty. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to the papers on his desk than his shenanigans. It is like the Wild West – that’s progress? The peoples of Europe will still get on without the EU.

The law? The law is an ass and all the players are donkeys. There is no political will in Europe to change direction and the UK has an ever-diminishing influence on what is implemented. Why can’t we ‘export’ our unwanted foreign criminals, illegal immigrants etc? It is because there is as much inbreeding in Brussels as there is in the UK legal system. Give a lawyer the job of running the legal system and what do you expect? Our only hope is to leave and sort out our own mess – that’s after we sort out our politicians. How the police operate in this environment, God only knows.

Politics? We have been lied to repeatedly by our politicians/ governments about where the EU is taking us. Political union is and was doomed to failure, but at what cost? We agree on the poor quality and ethics of our politicians, but then you only get the leadership you deserve. We can at least take them to task every five years.

During the past 40 years of ‘prosperity’, we have seen UK manufacturing decline, along with other traditional industries. Not much support from the EU. So now we depend on former barrow boys, still based in the East End of London, to generate wealth. Oh, and bankers. Uncontrolled immigration has distorted our labour market since the time of Blair. It’s all almost Monty Pythonesque.

Excuse me for not laughing.