Bankers are just one part of financial mess

It is also an international problem, but not the main cause of our difficulties.

The government was right to support domestic banking but, as a retired accountant and economist, my advice would have been to let the international banking speculators go to "the wall" – not pay them large bonuses or pensions.

It is conservatively estimated that the annual costs of European Union membership are 56bn, for an organisation whose accounts have not been independently certified for approaching two decades because of fraud and corruption.

The Conservatives under Ted Heath took us into the EU without the consent of the people and the Labour party then gave us a referendum because of the outcry, but we were told that it would cost the country much more to leave than to stay in, so a narrow majority won the day.

Membership is ruining this country.

A staggering 72 per cent of British regulatory laws originated within the EU and our British tax code runs to 10,000 pages.

The sheer complexity of our tax and benefits system soaks up billions of pounds, wasting money that could reduce taxes.

I read that one in four of all UK employees is in a taxpayer-funded job!

Another of our problems is 13 years of budgets stated by the Chancellor to be "prudent", when he has been spending far more than his income, so that before this latest crash he had massively over-spent, considerably weakening the economy. The solution?

Withdraw from the EU and negotiate a free trade agreement with them and all other trading countries currently covered by the EU agreements.

Combine national insurance (taxation by another name) with income cax and set a flat rate to provide the income required.

Eliminate VAT, which is an unfair tax because it takes a greater proportion of their income from poor people.

It is also time-consuming in its accounting because it has to be added at each stage of production, increasing non-productive time, and requires VAT inspectors to check that businesses are not defrauding the Revenue.

Many MPs from all parties privately give the impression that they are Euro-sceptics, but take no action.

Why not?

Ask them and only vote for those who will support withdrawal.

Reg Searle

Marama Gardens

Rustington

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