The downside of being in the EU’, Letters, April 3) must be younger than I for when I voted for Britain to remain a member of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1975 we were well aware of the political implications – for both Tony Benn and Enoch Powell argued for a ‘No’ vote on the grounds that membership involved a loss of sovereignty.

By a 2-1 majority the voters decided that the marginal loss of sovereignty was worth the economic gain because the countries in the EEC were enjoying an economic boom whilst those countries like the UK in EFTA – the European Free Trade Area – were stagnating.

Free trade areas have not been nearly as successful as the EEC and its successor, the EU.

Nor is he well informed on his other topics.

Ford may have received aid to relocate from Southampton but it moved because the plant was outdated and the site too physically restricted to be economically redeveloped – good practical reasons.

Elsewhere many motor manufacturers have been tempted to invest directly in the UK as a result of our EU membership – Nissan, Honda and Toyota to name but three – and Ford have invested heavily in South Wales.

Meanwhile, locally, the EU has been responsible for the success of Southampton Airport, the booming trade at our ferry terminals, the raft of top-flight local companies that are Tier 1 suppliers to Airbus, and it pours millions into research grants at Southampton University, which would be unable to sustain its position in either the academic league tables or as a major employer without such funds.

EU expats working and studying in Hampshire are also a big positive contributor to our local economy. Yet, or perhaps because of this, unemployment in Hampshire is lower than almost anywhere else in the EU – we are doing very nicely, thank you!

Finally, Russia may well be nervous about the success of the EU and its appeal to those countries formerly within its orbit but any future nuclear conflict will not be with the EU but with NATO, as the EU has no defence capability, being a purely economic and social international treaty organi-sation, not a “super-state”.

Maybe he is just a grumpy young man?