DAVID Bowe MEP added nothing to the Euro argument with his vacuous statement in favour of us joining the currency (September 18).

He says the French and German economies have benefited since joining. Are these the same economies that are continuing to perform worse than our own?

The arguments of Europhiles invariably come down to "Everyone else is doing it, so we must too."

But is that a good reason for abandoning control of our own economy?

With each new directive from Brussels I see fewer reasons why the UK should stay in the European Union.

Thanks to the EU, British sheep farming is threatened with extinction by bankruptcy from bureaucracy, directory inquiries is now a shambles thanks to a competition directive, and the post office is under threat.

Dr Duncan Campbell,

Albemarle Road,

York.

Updated: 11:08 Wednesday, September 24, 2003