The Flat Earth Society

Whenever letters full of bile and spite are aimed against me, such as the letter by Victor Spiteri (September 11), I take great pleasure from such rantings as it is obvious proof I have touched a nerve and have exposed more truth about the European Union than is comfortable for Mr Spiteri and others who naïvely take in EU propaganda as gospel.

Mr Spiteri, by trawling the depths of history, claims that had it not been for the EU Britain would have continued to produce sulphur-laden smoke which was creating acid rain in Sweden. He, however, fails to recognise that the British government introduced the Clean Air Act long before we joined the EU, which makes a nonsense of his comments that "Britain would still be dragging its feet to comply with the pressure brought to bear by the EU to tidy up its filthy and deadly emissions".

Such a statement is insulting to the British people who, when acid rain was discovered, were just as concerned as those in Sweden which was affected by it. EU or not, the UK would have still dealt with this problem.

Regarding my letters, which have been the cause of such ire to Mr Spiteri, the reason I write them is not that I still "harbour illusions" that Malta is in the "hey day of the empire" but because, unlike the EU, I have the greatest respect for the sovereignty and freedom of all the nations of Europe to remain self governing.

My letters are based on my studies of the EU which has plans to become a super state in which the once free nations are turned into little more than regions of the new state and become powerless to govern themselves. All you have to do is read the text of the EU constitution and you will note that, once ratified and accepted, the laws of the EU will have "primacy" over the laws of the member states. I write my letters as a friend of the Maltese and for no other reason or gain.

Mr Spiteri deludes himself that, should the UK leave the EU, it would raise tariff walls against us. Considering the UK purchases far more from the EU than we sell to it, the only ones to feel pain would be the European companies which rely on our imports, all of which, apart from champagne, we could purchase elsewhere in the world. The thing which dangerous pro-EU fanatics fear most regarding British withdrawal from the EU is the fact that the UK is a net contributor to EU funds.

Without the substantial cash injection from UK taxpayers, the whole sorry edifice would quickly collapse - much to the delight of most Europeans who not only loathe the euro currency but, according to the Eurobarometer, which was instigated by the EU Commission, over half of Europe's population would either feel indifferent or even relieved if the EU was scrapped tomorrow. If such an event happens Mr Spiteri and his euro chums could always join the Flat Earth Society - they may even find it makes more sense than the EU!