DESPITE all my letters about the EU, Derek Boden (Letters, November 30) seems unable to understand.

Whether he disagrees with my description of the EU or not is not the point. One thing with which he can not disagree is that however undemocratic the Westminster Parliament is, I prefer to be ruled by that and use all my powers to make it more democratic, rather than see us become - as I said before - a mere region of a federal European state.

As for the Constitution, I would very much doubt if anyone outside those who drafted it has had the opportunity to read it. I have, however, read extensive guidelines to it and am still of the same opinion that I was.

I would not be granted the space here to go into every chapter of it, but articles 15 and 40 both make it very clear that both our foreign policy and our control of nuclear weapons would be down to the EU. However, democratic Derek alleges that in the European Assembly (and I use that description deliberately because it certainly isn't a Parliament) we only have 78 MEPs out of more than 500.

I am a socialist and my ambition is to have a real socialist Government in Westminster, free of the USA and the EU and making decisions independently, in accordance with the wishes of the British electorate.

While my main concern is far more important than the question of cost to ourselves, it is neveretheless estimated that fraud within the EU costs it between £4bn and £8bn a year and our pension debt will rise from £4,000 per head to £30,000 with the addition of the Eastern European countries. Add to this the immoral immunity of the Commission from any prosecution and the financial sinecures which those failed politicians Neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson have managed to obtain, then I can only say with regard to the EU: no thank-you!

JIM HOMEWOOD