WE live in what Lord Hailsham once described as an elective dictatorship.

There are few checks and balances to stop the Government of the day doing whatever it wants, even if, as at present, it was only elected by 37 per cent of those voting and 24 per cent of the total electorate.

We have no written constitution and a second chamber which is only a revising chamber.

That is why the Brexit argument of having 'control over our own affairs' gives me no comfort whatsoever. There is every reason to believe that if Brexit wins, and the likes of Johnson and Gove take over the Government (Cameron would be toast) a whole host of progressive European laws on workers rights; human rights; working time; maternity/paternity rights etc would be under real threat. They haven't denied it.

The idea that law made in Europe is all bad simply because it is European is simply false, as is the notion that they are made by unelected bureacrats.

It is the Council of Ministers - elected politicians - and the European Parliament which ultimately holds the power, not the European Commission ( which actually has less staff than some large English councils).

Quite apart from the overwhelming economic case for staying in, In a troubled world, isolationism is not the answer. We need to maintain our close relationship with our democratic neighbours.

Malcolm Clarke

Sale