TOM Atkinson is full of information in his recent letter to the Review concerning Britain’s membership of the EU, because, he says, he likes to focus on facts.

That’s admirable but as he well knows, facts can be distorted to support any argument and should not be trusted, as one man’s fact is another man’s spin. 

One of Mr Atkinson’s facts is that membership of the EU is very costly to the UK. So what does he make of the Treasury assessment that, compared to total government expenditure, the UK contribution to the EU is less than one per cent, or a penny in the pound.

It also estimates that the UK makes an annual net gain of £78 billion pounds from its membership.

On George Osborne, what about the fact that we have the fastest-growing economy in the Western world – bar the USA – or the lowest unemployment figures for years.

Also we are creating more jobs than ever and are on course for a budget surplus of £10 billion by 2020 after being nearly bankrupt in 2010.

These figures of the Office of Budget Responsibility’s, not mine but, as I have already stated, facts are easy to manipulate and I am sure that Mr.Atkinson will have no trouble finding fault with these.

Most Tory Europhobes want the UK to retrieve law-making powers from Brussels and to take control of our borders again and I have no problem with that. 

Our Prime Minister is doing his best to secure a new deal for Britain in the EU so that we won’t have to take the drastic action that Mr. Atkinson advocates.

It’s fair to say that DC is not having much luck at present but it remains to be seen if he is successful or not.

There are signs that other European leaders are coming around to his viewpoint. 

There is another two years before the referendum is due to take place and who knows what can happen in that time? It is said that a week is a long time in politics.

All this aside, I am sure that voters are quite capable of making up their own minds when the referendum takes place, despite what I or Mr.Atkinson have to say.

The reason that I wrote to the Review in the first place, was to offset the constant negative rhetoric on the EU in the letters page, mostly from UKIP supporters and driven by high immigration.

– True Blue, Tutshill.