IS THERE no limit to the anti-EU nonsense exemplified by Colin Hingston (letters April 17)?

Nick Clegg is confronting the mass of dangerous nonsense purveyed by UKIP and its supporters.

Mr Hingston claims that Clegg said that our trade with Europe ‘stops suddenly’. He made no such claim. He correctly warns that independent estimates are that 3.5 million UK jobs depend on being in the EU.

These jobs are here now. The UKIP gamble is that they can be sustained outside the EU. I wonder if Mr.Hingston is comfortable gambling with other people’s jobs? Perhaps he should take a trip to Honda or other factories whose managements have warned of the consequences of leaving the EU. He could face the workforce personally and reassure them that their livelihoods are safe.

His bizarre justification is a claimed quote from Digby Jones (former head of CBI) that ‘we could have new trade agreements within 24 hours of leaving the EU’. This is very strange because John Cridland, current Director General of the Confederation of British Industry says, “There is no credible alternative to the EU”. A CBI report (not Nick Clegg) estimates that membership of the EU adds £62-£78 billion per year to our Gross Domestic Product which equates to £3,000 per household per year.

The Investment Management Association (IMA), which represents the investment management sector and the investments of millions of pensioners and savers, has warned that losing access to EU markets could cause job losses and cost the UK millions of pounds in tax revenue.

The numbers count and I believe that the danger of the Europhobe case will dawn on the majority of sensible British people. Sending UKIP to Strasbourg is an expensive waste of space.

BRIAN DASH, Address supplied.