J. HOLDEN, in his letter headed "Just another union basher" (Feb 13) attacks me then agrees with me that "trade unions were over-zealous in their claims".

The 1979 inflation rate was, as I stated, 13.4 per cent. If there was a 25 per cent inflation rate in the 1970s, it cannot be blamed on Mrs Thatcher, since it must have occurred prior to her taking office in 1979.

Despite the "them and us" attitude, ultimately the employers and the unions have, or at least should have, the same objective, namely to keep the company operating and the workers in jobs. To this end, the company must produce a product at a competitive price, because we live in a free country and you cannot force a customer to buy your product.

A massive pay increase is bound to impact on the price of the product, eventually forcing the price up so far that it no longer sells.

Consider for a moment that £125 per week wage that J. Holden mentioned (incidentally, a rate of pay which neither I, nor most of my friends, came near to earning). The 65 per cent increase,almost five times the inflation rate, demanded by the miners union would have raised it, overnight, to £206. For a company employing 1,000 workers, the annual wage bill would go up from £6.5 million to £10.725 million. Imagine how such an increase in the wage bill would effect the selling price of the product. Is it any wonder people stopped buying British coal?

J. Holden seems to be under the impression that I am against unions; indeed, he may suspect I am a businessman or company manager. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

I am neither a company owner, nor a manager, and I believe that unions are essential for the protection of workers rights. But, for the good of the workers and the industry that employs them, that protection must be tempered with common sense.

It benefits neither the company, nor its employees, to be priced out of business.

Incidentally, J. Holden has fallen for the popular misconception (no doubt intended to frighten the population into voting for the Single Currency) that this country is losing business to other EU countries. On the contrary, from an economic point of view, Britain is doing considerably better than our European competitors. Not only that, but our position is improving, year on year.

For example, in 1997, Britain received 52 per cent of all inward investment into the EU (source: Eurostat, July 1, 1999).

In 1999, Britain received $62 billion in inward investment, compared to $31 billion for France and $22 billion for Germany (source: United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, Feb 12, 2000).

Inward investment into Britain was £114 billion in 1992, £121 billion in 1993, £121 billion in 1994, £129 billion in 1995, £135 billion in 1996, £153 billion in 1997 and £183 billion in 1998 (source: Office of National Statistics, December 1999).

Far from pulling out of Britain, foreign companies are falling over themselves to invest here.

As for unemployment, Spain has 14.9 per cent unemployment, Italy 11.2, France 10.2, Germany 8.4 and the UK 5.9 (source: HM Pocket Databank, May 2000). Clearly Britain is doing something right.

T. R. MILES (Mr)