L SPITERI (You Say, Saturday, January 4) attempts to "set the record straight" regarding Europe.

He claims he's being criticised unfairly for things he did not actually write. So let's consider what he actually writes.

He says: "Incidentally, I do not know of any country, institution or organisation that is wholly devoid of any corruption or degree of incompetence."

True - likewise, I know of no Western democracy in which around 20 per cent of the total budget disappears to fraud, mismanagement and corruption (other than the EU).

Officials of the British government do not enjoy complete immunity from prosecution, while EU officials do.

Hence, food subsidies were found to "accidentally" end up paying for Palestinian arms - but, unfortunately, the police are powerless to investigate.

He then complains about the use of statistics, claiming that "politicians" use them to "baffle the ordinary voter".

This is simply an excuse to dismiss the opposition's case without putting forward one of his own.

He speaks of redundancies. British unemployment has plummeted (along with all other EU countries outside the eurozone) while countries adopting the euro have increased unemployment.

As for public transport, we're the only European country to have complied with EU regulations on privatisation - hence the appaling state of our rail network.

Artificial house prices can only get worse if we join the euro and accept the ECB's low interest rate, which is set to fall further to bail out Germany and France - both hit by mass unemployment and huge price increases.

As for him stating that he is in fact Father Christmas, one has to wonder whether his entire letter is intended as a joke - it certainly fails spectacularly to justify his love affair with the EU.

Besides, I'm sure Santa has a far better understanding of economics.

JONATHAN ARNOTT, Sheffield.