A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 15th April 1996.

Recognizing at last the economic folly of their single currency project, the French and German governments are now, according to Robert Shrimsley (report, April 10), threatening sanctions against British goods if we don’t follow them in their folly.

Leaving aside the utter illegality of such actions under the GATT agreements to which the French and Germans are signatories, who can now pretend that these countries are in any sense of the word our partners?  The fact is they are our fiercest rivals and it is absurd of us to hand over £10 billion a year to belong to a club organized for their benefit.

Disentangling ourselves from the EU would be easy, not difficult, bringing joy here and relief on the continent.  Preparing for and carrying out our divorce from the EU would be the best possible project for the new Millennium.

A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 13th March 1996.

The letter from Beryl Goldsmith (March 12th) and your editorial (March 8th) underline the crucial importance of the wording in any referendum.

In 1975 the Wilson government test-marketed several candidate questions to enable it to choose the one which it thought would be most likely to secure a Yes vote.

In canvassing on the streets, the Campaign for an Independent Britain has consistently found that if people are asked to sign a petition against joining the Single Currency, about 50% are inclined to do so.  When it is explained that it means abolishing the pound as our currency, about 90% will sign.  Strange as it may seem, until it is pointed out, many people do not see that the two are one and the same thing.

It is vital therefore that if a referendum is organized, those who fervently want our country to continue to exist as a self-governing nation, must insist that the question is essentially, “Are you in favour of abolishing the pound sterling as our national currency and using the new Euro-currency in its place?”