YP Letters: Union leaders can't speak for their members over EU vote

I WELCOME Don Burslam’s helpful letter about the EU vote (The Yorkshire Post, May 7). He shows very clearly how confusing our leaders’ assertions can be.

Mr Burslam states “the Remain side includes virtually the whole of the Labour Party” and “the whole of the trade unions”. On what information is this claim made?

The Labour Party consists of about 400,000 paid-up members and MPs. It does not include the other nine million who voted Labour in the General Election.

The trade union leaders may say their union will vote “Remain”. But it is not a block vote so how do they know what each of their six million members will decide?

From: Thomas W Jefferson, Batty Lane, Howden, Goole.

YOUR correspondent Martin Crowson (The Yorkshire Post, May 7) gives a robust defence of the EU, but with some notable omissions and misconceptions.

Failure to acknowledge that Nato is the foundation of European security gives excessive credit to the EU. It is Nato, which the majority of EU members joined first, that has imbued the values of democracy and peaceful co-existence across the continent by making them conditions of membership.

A lesson from history not mentioned is that there has never been a successful currency union that did not have the bedrock of political and economic union. The disfunctional euro will never have that because the peoples of Europe will not allow it, most notably the Germans who would need to change their constitution with a two-thirds majority.

There was no mention of the EU’s “democratic deficit” and it’s inbuilt disdain of the common people, clearly expressed by one of the founding fathers, Jean Monnet, who said “Europe’s nations should be guided towards the superstate without their people understanding what is happening”.

It is a gross misconception to argue that the EU has “fostered economic prosperity”.

From: Arthur Quarmby, Underhill, Holme.

THE Government publicity machine continues to paint a frightening picture of a Britain outside the EU. Outside the EU, the world’s fifth-largest economy is doomed, it seems.

I have a more realistic picture; if we stay in, we really are doomed. Our temerity in daring to consider quitting is likely to be rewarded with Britain being used as a dumping ground for millions of migrants from Africa and the Middle East.