To seek isolation would be absurd

Dear Sir,

In all the debate about British membership of the EU we seem to have lost sight of the big picture. Britain is a leader in a partnership of 28 countries, many of them dictatorships less than three decades ago, working together to promote democracy and freedom and to find shared solution to common problems. Surely this is what most of us want.

To pull out of the EU will leave us economically and politically weaker. It will make it more difficult to deal with the migrants' crisis, the threat from terrorists, or the ambitions of President Putin. It will deprive us of our ability to stand up to the economic might of China or the dominance of American multinational companies. Instead of criticising we should be taking a lead in building a Europe than can be a stronger voice for good in the world.

When Britain stood alone against enemies in 1940 it was heroic. For Britain in 2016 now to turn its back on friends and seek isolation instead of partnership would be absurd.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Peter Hirst

Middlewich