I’M old enough to have voted in the 1975 referendum as to whether we stayed in the "Common Market".

I was duped into voting Yes by former Tory Prime Minister Edward Heath - stupidly I believed him when he said that there would be "no further loss of sovereignty".

I am 40 years older, and I do not intend to be duped again by David Cameron, the current Tory PM.

I suggest you read his Bloomberg speech of 2013, when he said that he was going to bring back all sorts of powers from Brussels.

In the event, having hawked his way round the EU capitals, he has come back with a weak-as-dishwater agreement; "thin gruel" according to one of his backbenchers. Nothing appreciable has been returned to Westminster, but unsurprisingly it is enough to satisfy slippery Dave, a closet Europhile from day one.

What about our local MP, Mel Stride? Four years ago, he wrote this to a constituent: "The relationship we have with Europe today has gone too far. A political union taking away powers from our own Parliament is not something that the British people have ever supported, and is something that needs to be urgently addressed".

Strong stuff, and pretty unequivocal, Mel will obviously be voting for LEAVE you might think.

You’d be wrong, because it seems that Mr Stride is satisfied by the puny concessions secured by Cameron, and is now for Remain.

I do get the impression that many of our politicians are prepared to say almost anything to get themselves elected, only for their true beliefs to come out once they have secured a safe seat.

I do not doubt that many of you who voted for Mr Stride will feel very let down indeed by this news - mind you, he has been very quiet on this crucial decision for our country; I wonder why!

The "trading bloc" which we all thought we had joined in 1973 has morphed into an embryonic state called the European Union.

Many of its members’ economies are comatose, with youth unemployment at astronomic levels, and now it is crystal clear that neither we (nor the EU) have any real control of our borders. The EU has had its day.

It is patently a failure, and I would ask you all to vote LEAVE on June 23, so that WE can take back control of our own destiny.

Co-operation at inter-governmental level is fine, a United States of Europe is a recipe for disaster.

Bob Edwards

Chairman, UK Independence Party, Central Devon

Salmonhutch

Crediton