OUR government is exporting £10 billion of UK taxpayers' money to the European Union to subsidise our competitors.

Everyone, even children buying crisps or sweets, is taxed for this purpose, but the majority receive no benefit whatever from membership.

Some of the cash goes on fraud and corruption and to pay excessive salaries for the bureaucrats and Euro MPs, as well as handouts to industry, local authorities and farmers to pay some of them - including land-owning British politicians - as much as £80,000 a year to keep their land non-productive.

Our fishermen have had their livelihoods destroyed in order that Spanish fishermen can fish in British waters. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in industry for similar reasons.

Should not these 'losers' also qualify for compensation like that paid to wealthy land-owning, well-paid politicians as non-productive farmers?

Taxpayers' money subscribed to the European Union is now going to former French colonies in North Africa to create jobs there, in a vain attempt to persuade migrants to stay at home rather than invading northern Europe.

It is time to stop this export of taxpayers' money which could finance industry directly and agriculture, which could then produce the cheap and universally subsidised food we enjoyed prior to joining the EU.

Chancellor Kohl, of Germany, is pressurising Britain to adopt a single currency as a member of a super state of Europe and maintains this is the only way of ensuring peace. Many believe it is a certain way of ensuring civil strife throughout Europe.

Not one country in the European Union has voted to lose their national identity or to adopt a single currency, but all the main parties in Britain are in favour.

MRS EVA ROKAS, Yarrow Close, Croston.

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