I am not surprised that Steve Richards, together with many other Euro enthusiasts, are beginning to feel anxious about the inadequacy and contradiction of the argument for the United Kingdom staying in the European Union (Yes or no? In or out? It’s not just the phrasing of the EU vote that’s a mess, Opinion, 2 September). This is a symptom of starting with the conclusion that the EU is a good thing and then looking for supporting evidence and arguments. In many causes the evidence points in the opposite direction.

I have no doubt that the free movement of people damages the employment opportunities of the people that I represent, just as the structure of the EU budgets, particularly the common agricultural policy, diverts investment away from them.

European Union law is a threat to the minimum wage and could make renationalising the utilities and railways much more difficult, if not impossible. Iconoclasts are thriving because the current EU institutions are so damaging to the UK and its citizens.

Graham Stringer MP

Labour, Blackley and Broughton