IN REPLY to Howard March (May 28) the statistics show that Britain’s manufacturing output has substantially declined since we joined the EU.

In 1973 Edward Heath took Britain into the Common Market. This was done by the Conservative government without a referendum. At the time senior Labour MPs, such as Tony Benn and Michael Foot, were very much against joining the EU.

Edward Heath said it was just a trading agreement so a referendum was not required. We were also assured that joining the EU would not result in any loss of sovereignty for Britain.

This trade deal with Europe turned out to be very bad for Britain. Our industrial output is now 15 per cent lower than it was when we joined the Common Market in 1973.

STEVE HALDEN Beaufort Green Swindon