RICHARD O Whiting's letter 'A safer Europe' (April 11) is utter rubbish! NATO, especially the Americans, kept the peace in Europe, not the Eurupean Union.

The inward-looking, over-regulated EU has been a disaster.

Germany's unemployment is more than five million and, because of twisted statistics, no one knows the true figure for the UK, but there are probably more than eight million non-workers.

Debt, national and private, has never been higher and the pension fund black hole is mind-boggling.

To suggest regional government has nothing to do with the EU is wrong. It is because of the EU and, even though the idea was rejected in the North East, the rotten EU quango is still in place.

Stephen Feaster,

UK Independence Party candidate for Ryedale,

High Farm,

Cropton,

Pickering.

Updated: 10:40 Thursday, April 14, 2005