Better to be an EU member than stand outside alone

Most EU citizens who come to the UK come to work. EU migrants contribute 34 per cent more in taxes than they receive in benefits.

Yet an estimated 40,000 Brits claim benefits in other EU countries. It is a two-way street and contrary to the writer’s belief, freedom of movement is enjoyed by Brits just as much as by other Europeans.

Ms Romsey maintains that we pay many billions to the EU but fails to say what we get in return for our membership fee (which is 37p per person per day).

The CBI estimates everyone in the UK is £1,225 better off from EU membership.

Our membership gives us access to a free, open and well regulated market for our businesses to sell their goods and trade to 500 million people. Based on this the EU is good value for money.

On the issue of Turkey and other EU countries wanting to join the EU, there are strict criteria such as rule of law, access to justice, human rights and democracy before any country can join.

None of the applicant countries yet comply with these and, in fact, Turkey is losing ground. So in the foreseeable future we will have no enlargement.

In the case of trade with non-EU countries, Germany exports £110 billion worth of goods outside the EU, compared to Britain’s £27 billion.

Despite what the writer asserts, EU red tape does not affect Britain’s ability to trade with other countries outside the EU – that’s why Switzerland, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK are all in the top ten most competitive economies in the world.

The EU isn’t perfect, that's why I am there in the Parliament standing up for the UK and my constituents every week.

Being a member of the EU is better than standing outside the world’s largest global community, on our own, having to obey its rules without the chance to influence them.

It’s a pity the UKIP MEPs don’t do the same.

CATHERINE BEARDER, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for South East England.