IT’S alarming, not to say depressing, how many who wish to remain in the EU seem to view Brussels as a benign entity which allows us all to access so many grants and is such a great help to our farmers and businesses – an EU without which we just couldn’t govern ourselves.

This doesn’t quite tally with the fact that in 2015, we paid £13bn into the EU budget, for which the nice, supportive EU spent £4.5bn on the UK; that’s £8.5bn swallowed up by the EU project.

And that £13bn we pay annually doesn’t include the almost £22bn we’ve had to pay into the IMF to bail out struggling economies, such as Greece, and it’s clear there will be more needed before too long.

Neither does it include the £642m in ‘fines’ paid in the last 10 years for our apparent failure to fully implement EU laws on CAP.

Yes, CAP does give our farmers access to EU markets, but it also gives European farmers access to our market.

Any post-Brexit government would continue to support UK farming and industry.

We’ve had parliamentary democracy for a very long time, even before Brussels came to look after us.

We are more than able to manage ourselves and forge our own links with Europe and the world.

Brexit is not about turning our backs on Europe; it’s about creating a more balanced, honest and democratic relationship with Europe and all trading nations.

ANDREW SANDERS,

Allenheads,