IT is one of the great ironies of history that the European Union, a creation of democratic European nations, is totally undemocratic, would fail its own conditions for membership and is a major threat to the freedom.

It is the product of a failed political establishment, who still think in the corporatist terms of the early 20th century. It is almost entirely based on the worst aspects of the French political system, which is run by a closed and arrogant elite who effectively ignore the wishes of those outside their own magic circle.

The European Parliament is not a democratic body, which exercises control over the executive, but a virtually powerless talking shop, that provides a fig leaf for democracy.

D BULLEN (Mr), Albany Road, Blackburn.