This is Somerset --
Government stick to result of EU vote
I must respond to the letter regarding scaremongering on EU federalism. Surely it is not about whether we are in or out of this unelected lot that make up the EU, it is about what is best for the UK.
What we demand is the "in-out" referendum now and to stand by the outcome of what the electorate decides.
All the scaremongering by the pro-EU lot about what would happen to our trade is speculative rubbish. To say we would lose much of our trade to Europe and that we would have to pay the EU a subscription to trade with them – well, two can play that game we in return must charge them to trade with us. They would definitely have far more to lose than us as they sell twice as much to us than we do to them. The truth is the pro-EU people doing the scaremongering are running scared.
So let's put things into perspective, we need and are long overdue this EU referendum so I say to David Cameron: "Man up and give us what we are demanding – just a straight in-or-out vote. If the outcome is to stay in so be it but if the vote is to leave our Government must stand by the wishes of the people; no second vote as in Ireland and Denmark."
David Pilton-Slade
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Correspondent should stick to the facts
Seeing Mr Bathurst's letter (Western Daily Press, August 22) brought back to me that I never did get a reply when I asked him to verify where he got the figure "that only 10 per cent of our legislation comes from the EU" back in February of this year.
Mr Bathurst's letter today is just as misleading. The latest figures for new car registrations show that UK car sales are up 13.4 per cent while in the rest of Europe they are down by an average of 5.6 per cent. Honda laid off 5,000 employees because of the drop in car sales in Europe.
Mr Bathurst then says that "The Japanese Embassy was asked what effect leaving the EU would have. The response was that Japanese firms are attracted to the UK because it offered a gateway to the prized European markets."
Nothing of the sort, Mr Bathurst. The Japanese Government, along with the USA, Australian, Canadian and South Korean administrations, was asked to write such letters in support of the EU and so far only the Japanese and the American governments have responded.
The Economist magazine carried an article about the UK leaving the EU in which Ruth Lea stated that six-and-a-half million European jobs depended on trade with the UK. Are you seriously saying, Mr Bathurst, that they would risk all those jobs by erecting trade barriers and imposing duties on our goods to them?
Stop trying to frighten people, Mr Bathurst, and stick to the facts!
Stuart Eels
Chippenham, Wiltshire
I will be revelling in yesteryear's creations
Wednesday will see the start of the annual Great Dorset Steam Fair, attracting thousands of people, weather permitting.
I go along to see all of the old steam-driven machinery and equipment from yesteryear. At 74, I am old enough to have seen steam and diesel road rollers working along with tar boilers to repair our road surfaces. I was also lucky to travel by steam trains.
Grantham, my home town, was and is a main line station on the London to Edinburgh line. So I saw engines such as Mallard and Flying Scotsman on a regular basis.
From the 1930s, the firm of Aveling and Barford produced both steam and diesel road rollers in its Grantham factory. The firm of Ruston and Hornsby, also of Grantham, produced diesel engines, which powered some of these. Both factories are now long gone, as is the Doncaster Railway Works that made Mallard and Flying Scotsman.
I take my hat off to those who endeavour to show our young something of the past. What we made in those days and who made them should, I feel, be remembered.
Colin H Duller
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Figures say it's time for Osborne to go
Another set of monthly economic figures. Another humiliation for George Osborne.
The latest economic bulletin shows that the failing Chancellor had to borrow another £488 million in July.
The rise in borrowing has added to the ballooning national debt. In July, Britain owed £1.193 trillion, up from £1.11 trillion on last year. This from a Chancellor who was going to balance the books by 2015.
The first thing the Prime Minister must do when he returns from his holidays, before his butler unpacks his suitcase, is to sack his best friend George Osborne.
Shaun Shute
Gloucester Reported by This is 9 hours ago.
Government stick to result of EU vote
I must respond to the letter regarding scaremongering on EU federalism. Surely it is not about whether we are in or out of this unelected lot that make up the EU, it is about what is best for the UK.
What we demand is the "in-out" referendum now and to stand by the outcome of what the electorate decides.
All the scaremongering by the pro-EU lot about what would happen to our trade is speculative rubbish. To say we would lose much of our trade to Europe and that we would have to pay the EU a subscription to trade with them – well, two can play that game we in return must charge them to trade with us. They would definitely have far more to lose than us as they sell twice as much to us than we do to them. The truth is the pro-EU people doing the scaremongering are running scared.
So let's put things into perspective, we need and are long overdue this EU referendum so I say to David Cameron: "Man up and give us what we are demanding – just a straight in-or-out vote. If the outcome is to stay in so be it but if the vote is to leave our Government must stand by the wishes of the people; no second vote as in Ireland and Denmark."
David Pilton-Slade
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Correspondent should stick to the facts
Seeing Mr Bathurst's letter (Western Daily Press, August 22) brought back to me that I never did get a reply when I asked him to verify where he got the figure "that only 10 per cent of our legislation comes from the EU" back in February of this year.
Mr Bathurst's letter today is just as misleading. The latest figures for new car registrations show that UK car sales are up 13.4 per cent while in the rest of Europe they are down by an average of 5.6 per cent. Honda laid off 5,000 employees because of the drop in car sales in Europe.
Mr Bathurst then says that "The Japanese Embassy was asked what effect leaving the EU would have. The response was that Japanese firms are attracted to the UK because it offered a gateway to the prized European markets."
Nothing of the sort, Mr Bathurst. The Japanese Government, along with the USA, Australian, Canadian and South Korean administrations, was asked to write such letters in support of the EU and so far only the Japanese and the American governments have responded.
The Economist magazine carried an article about the UK leaving the EU in which Ruth Lea stated that six-and-a-half million European jobs depended on trade with the UK. Are you seriously saying, Mr Bathurst, that they would risk all those jobs by erecting trade barriers and imposing duties on our goods to them?
Stop trying to frighten people, Mr Bathurst, and stick to the facts!
Stuart Eels
Chippenham, Wiltshire
I will be revelling in yesteryear's creations
Wednesday will see the start of the annual Great Dorset Steam Fair, attracting thousands of people, weather permitting.
I go along to see all of the old steam-driven machinery and equipment from yesteryear. At 74, I am old enough to have seen steam and diesel road rollers working along with tar boilers to repair our road surfaces. I was also lucky to travel by steam trains.
Grantham, my home town, was and is a main line station on the London to Edinburgh line. So I saw engines such as Mallard and Flying Scotsman on a regular basis.
From the 1930s, the firm of Aveling and Barford produced both steam and diesel road rollers in its Grantham factory. The firm of Ruston and Hornsby, also of Grantham, produced diesel engines, which powered some of these. Both factories are now long gone, as is the Doncaster Railway Works that made Mallard and Flying Scotsman.
I take my hat off to those who endeavour to show our young something of the past. What we made in those days and who made them should, I feel, be remembered.
Colin H Duller
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Figures say it's time for Osborne to go
Another set of monthly economic figures. Another humiliation for George Osborne.
The latest economic bulletin shows that the failing Chancellor had to borrow another £488 million in July.
The rise in borrowing has added to the ballooning national debt. In July, Britain owed £1.193 trillion, up from £1.11 trillion on last year. This from a Chancellor who was going to balance the books by 2015.
The first thing the Prime Minister must do when he returns from his holidays, before his butler unpacks his suitcase, is to sack his best friend George Osborne.
Shaun Shute
Gloucester Reported by This is 9 hours ago.