JIM Homewood insists that the UK referendum on the draft EU constitutional treaty should go ahead (Letters, June 14), regardless of it being rejected by both France and the Netherlands.

I suspect a great many people would consider a referendum under such circumstances to be a time and money- wasting irrelevance and would wonder why we can't get on to a proper debate on a way forward which might command support among all 25 EU member states.

That is why I think the Prime Minister's proposal that there should now be a period of reflection and that the proposed UK referendum lie on the table for the time being is a sensible one.

From Mr Homewood's tone, it is obvious to me that he wants the European Union to fail. I have to ask him if he thinks that the collapse of the EU would make the world a better place. I understand that the original reason for the creation of the European Community no longer chimes with younger people.

For them, the world wars which killed millions of Europeans are ancient history and it is only the older generations who still feel the impact on their lives.

But everyone, regardless of age, has a stake in tackling the urgent problem of rapid climate change brought on by our unsustainable use of fossil fuel.

Everyone must recognise the moral and practical imperative of eradicating the abject poverty which afflicts Africa particularly but scars the whole world.

Everyone is protected by the rule of law at international as well as national level.

Everyone's quality of life is protected when we insist on effective regulation to protect consumers, workers and the environment from the depredations of rapacious, out of control, global capitalism. Everyone is protected by the development of foreign and defence policies which aim to prevent and resolve conflict rather than to prevail by brute force.

Britain in the EU has a chance of doing something positive about those issues. Without it, we would be at the mercy of an overweening United States government which still denies the existence of climate change despite the overwhelming scientific consensus around it.

I think the real choice for Britain is either to be an equal member of the EU with the ability to participate in its decisions through our elected representatives or to be a subordinate satellite of the United States, rewarded for our loyalty with warm words but with no power and precious little influence over the decisions of the United States.

Derek Boden