Letters: May 7, 2016

Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Welcoming free trade

I WOULD like to congratulate the Swindon Advertiser for printing an informative and factual report on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Business News, May 4.

This is the type of information which may encourage readers who want to know more about the real pros and cons of remaining in the EU to do some deeper research.

Too often during this referendum campaign we have been given the biased, vague, subjective opinions of manipulative politicians.

Prime Minister David Cameron has used scaremongering phrases, such as "a leap into the unknown" or "a step into the dark".

The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has used a dubious equation which would have baffled Einstein.

He claims this equation enables him to predict what size the UK’s economy will be 15 years from now.

Considering he is unable to get his figures right from one month to the next his prediction must qualify him for the award of best comedian 2016.

We don’t have to be dictated to and dominated by unelected transnational corporations, EU bureaucrats or the government of the USA.

There is an alternative put forward by “Economists for Brexit”.

They point out that EU protectionism raises the cost of food and manufacturing prices.

By leaving the EU the UK can get rid of tariffs and go to unilateral free trade, which will reduce costs for consumers and improve our standard of living.

For anyone who is fed-up with the scary government propaganda and is interested in a rational alternative view I suggest they take a look at economistsforbrexit.co.uk website.

The EU is an outdated, incompetent, corrupt, undemocratic organisation which belongs in the 1950s.

I fear the unknown of remaining in the EU far more than I do leaving it.

I believe the UK is big enough and good enough to look after its own interests.

The evidence continues to convince me the sooner we leave the EU the better.

K KANE

Wharf Road

Wroughton

....

Real economic benefits

GEORGE Osborne has calculated that leaving the EU would cost us all around £4,300 per annum in extra taxation and losses incurred by no longer being "in the club".

Professor of Economics Patrick Minford has also been looking to see the effects of leaving the EU.

Professor Minford, in his book 'Should Britain leave the EU?', published by the highly respected Institute of Economic Affairs, takes into account things only possible outside of the EU, such as reduced regulation, lower energy prices, removing the Common External Tariff and setting up our own trade deals around the world (currently prohibited by the Treaty of Rome).

None of these appear to have been considered by Mr Osborne.

Minford calculates that the true economic benefit to the UK of leaving the EU is that we would be better off by £9,200 a household a year.

The question is, who do you believe?

Professor Minford and the Institute of Economic Affairs, or George Osborne, the man who had to admit he had got his 2016 budget wrong and had to rewrite an important part of it a few days later?

I know where I would put my money.

TONY MOLLAND

Former chairman

Devizes Ukip Association

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Need info before ballot

I HAVE just returned from my local polling station where I was given two papers, one for the local councillors and one for the form of police chief.

On my local forms there were about six names but only one had the courtesy to inform me of his/her views, some of which I may have agreed on, but nothing from the others (as in similar situations). How could I know which way to vote?

I therefore, as before, spoiled my form. In the same way, what did I know about the police?

If this is a general attitude, will the Brexit follow the same trend unless we are given the full facts on both sides?

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

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Venturing far and wide

THE old adage goes many southerners have never travelled north of the Watford Gap and now a new survey by National Express reveals 10 per cent of people in the south west confess to never having ventured past the landmark.

The survey of 1,000 people UK-wide, conducted to reveal travel habits, reveals surprising numbers admit to never having strayed past the Watford Gap, which is famously considered the dividing line between the north and south of England.

A further 10 per cent of people in the UK confess they have never ventured south of the landmark gateway, proving it’s not just people living in the south who haven’t explored other parts of the country.

The survey also reveals nearly a quarter of people surveyed in the south west have never travelled to Scotland, 62 per cent have never visited Northern Ireland and four per cent have never been to Wales.

Tellingly, just six per cent of those surveyed in the south west said they have never visited anywhere outside the British Isles, suggesting many people are more likely to travel to foreign shores than other parts of the United Kingdom.

The results are released as National Express aims to "bridge the gap" with thousands of fares for £5 this spring, to inspire people, including those in Swindon, to explore the amazing sights of the UK.

Managing director Tom Stables said: “The old adage goes than many people from the south have ‘never been further north than the Watford Gap’ so it may surprise people than just as many people have never ventured south of the gap.

"With hundreds of thousands of value fares we’re making it easier than ever to see the amazing sights the UK has to offer affordably and we hope we can inspire people in Swindon to explore somewhere they have never been to this spring."

Visit www.nationalexpress.com for the best fares using the dedicated Low Fare Finder tool.

ROSALYN GOLDS

Head of Media National Express UK Coach