MY father was in the RAF in the Second World War, my mother was Red Cross nurse.

Both my grandfathers were soldiers in the First World War.

The Europe they grew up in was very different from the Europe of today.

Rivalry and hatred, nations vying for supremacy with millions dead in two world wars.

I am lucky that I haven’t been called upon to fight (and possibly die) in another European war.

But it’s more than luck.

The European Union has ensured that the countries of Europe, once bitter enemies, have worked together for the benefit of all European citizens instead of fighting each other.

No one is claiming that the European Union is perfect but remaining a member means more jobs, lower prices and prosperity for generations to come.

If Britain was to leave the consequences would be irreversible; we wouldn’t be allowed to get back in if things didn’t work out.

Leaving would cost jobs and make families worse off.

Why gamble on our future by taking a jump into the unknown and turning our back on our European neighbours?

ANDREW RENSHAW Moore

Stay strong

I WANT to live in a nation whose laws, taxes, currency, immigration, and future are determined by those who have been elected by the will of the people of that same nation.

A nation where if those in power mess it up, as no doubt they will sometimes, they are held accountable to us.

A nation where those in power can be replaced by our will, our voice, our vote.

We are the nation. Many consider the founder of modern democracy.

I want us to retain this strength.

Great Britain is not a republic.

The EU is.

I want our nation to be strong, maintain its independence, its currency, its sovereignty.

Be free to make its own mistakes, be free to correct them and more importantly free to celebrate its successes in a global way and not be just one member of an ever increasing in size, morally corrupt and financially bankrupt ‘Union’.

Hardly anyone knows who their MEP is, no one really knows what they do.

We pay far more attention to our inept local MPs, as we should, but don’t realise how much they are shackled and controlled by Brussels. That’s just not right.

I have worked and travelled across Europe. I see the damage the Euro currency has done.

Witnessed the poverty, the epically huge youth unemployment rates.

I have heard the distrust and contempt many have not only for us but for other nations but in particular all have an agreed distrust of the EU parliament.

If the EU had stayed just as a free trade area then this hurt, this distrust, this failure could have been avoided but it hasn’t and the identity of the every nation in Europe is at risk.

I don’t want that for Britain and voting out will give us the power to control our own destiny.

It may be tough being out for a while but where the heck has our bulldog spirit gone?

One vote, use it.

STUART MANN Winwick

Forgotten aid

WHEN Mr Muller, in his letter on the referendum (Warrington Guardian, June 16) says that we ‘stood alone in two great wars’ does he forget that victory was a joint effort?

Does he forget the allied ground and naval forces?

Does he forget the European pilots, including Czechs and Poles, who fought and died alongside our home-grown airmen?

Mr Muller should also consider that patriotism is not restricted to the leave campaign.

If you believe, as I do, that it is better for the nation and its citizens to be in the EU then the patriotic thing to do is to vote to remain.

DAVE WILLIAMS Fearnhead

Panic stations

IT is no surprise that former Labour leaders have lent their names to a plea to remain in the EU.

If anything this letter shows the desperation and panic which must be setting in the ‘Remain’ camp.

This intervention from ‘yesterday’s men’ is to some extent illustrative of what is wrong with the EU.

Take for example Lord (Neil) Kinnock, formerly a fervent ‘out’ campaigner.

He became converted to the benefits of membership of the then European Community, presumably because he obtained a lucrative job within the European Commission.

It is telling that Lord Kinnock had far more power over the British people as an EU commissioner than ever he was trusted with by the British people in any election.

It is time to end this cosy arrangement which only suits the political elite and leave the EU, irrespective of Lord Kinnock’s pleading.

DANIEL WOOD

Acting chairman The Liberal Party NEC Kingswood

Democratic

IAN Wilson’s comments regarding the undemocratic nature of the EU (Warrington Guardian June 16) are completely erroneous.

The commissioners of the EU are not appointed by other commissioners.

In fact each is nominated by the head of state of each member country, who is of course elected by a majority vote of the electorate.

The president of the commission is elected by majority vote of the EU Council; ie the 28 heads of state.

The whole commission then presents itself to the EU Parliament comprised of MEPs, elected by each country.

The EU Parliament then approves (or rejects) the appointment of the commission as a whole. Further to this the EU Parliament can force the commission as a body to resign.

It is true to say that the EU Parliament cannot make an individual commissioner resign.

However the president of the commission can do this and would do it if forced by the threat of a motion of censure by the EU Parliament.

As you can see, to say that the commissioners are accountable to no one is a nonsense.

Mr Wilson quotes the Treaty of Rome, way back in 1957.

There have been other treaties since that have continued to modify and improve the democratic processes within the EU.

I don’t claim that they have yet reached perfection but I can say that these processes are far more democratic than the Brexiteers are claiming.

GEOFF CLOUGH Fairfield and Howley

Big picture

IN all the debate about British membership of the EU we seem to have lost sight of the big picture.

It is the most successful peace project in the history of the world.

Britain is a leader in a partnership of 28 countries, many of them dictatorships less than three decades ago, working together to promote democracy and freedom and to find shared solution to problems we face in common.

Surely this is what most of us want?

To pull out of the EU will leave us economically and politically weaker.

It will make it more difficult to deal with the migrants’ crisis, the threat from terrorists or the ambitions of President Putin.

It will deprive us of our ability to stand up to the economic might of China or the dominance of American multinational companies.

Instead of criticising we should be taking a lead in building a Europe than can be a stronger voice for good in the world.

When Britain stood alone against enemies in 1940 it was heroic.

For Britain in 2016 now to turn its back on friends and seek isolation instead of partnership would be absurd.

DAVID KNAPP Great Sankey

Regain control

THE time is fast approaching for us to make up our minds in the EU referendum.

Much of the debate has revolved around whether leaving or remaining would make a difference of a few percentage points to our GDP over the next few years.

This seems to me to be a rather short-term outlook.

What are the fundamental issues here? Surely it’s about control, and the nature of our society?

Do we want to be in charge of our country governed by people accountable to us? Or do we want to continue handing over more power to people not elected by us, whom we can’t control?

Do we want to be able to control who can settle in this country, or do we want to allow anyone from any EU country the right to reside here, irrespective of the demands this places on our housing,NHS, schools and other services?

There is an assumption among many people that a vote to remain is a vote for the status quo. This is not the case.

The EU doesn’t stand still.

It is constantly acquiring more centralising powers at the expense of its member states, intruding into more areas of our lives.

Despite a succession of crises, such as the disaster that is the Eurozone and the EU’s inability to control its borders, the EU elite continue to plough ahead regardless towards their ultimate objective of a European superstate.

It is time to believe in ourselves and regain control of our country by voting to leave.

PAUL HALL Great Sankey