AFTER waiting for three weeks for a reply to the question of whether Croatia got a grant from the European Union (EU) to house the machinery that will go there from Terry's of York, I am assured by our MP Hugh Bayley that this rumour is false because Croatia is not a member state.

He also states in his letter that four other countries that are members will take on so much of the production but at this point he does not know whether they have received a grant.

In the negotiations he had on this matter he should have been brought to the forefront. If these countries are getting finance from the EU we are, in fact, paying the EU to put our workforce into unemployment.

Mr Bayley also assures me the people of York are gaining more jobs each year since Labour came to power. Will he explain that to the 400 pensions staff who have just been told they are going to lose their jobs as well (June 29)?

He says these redundancies came as a surprise to him. Doesn't he know what is going on in Parliament or are his ministers keeping him in the dark on aspects of employment in this area?

TJ Ryder,

Priory Gardens,

Dringhouses, York.

Updated: 09:45 Friday, July 02, 2004