THE events at Nice affect the people of Redditch just as much as those of our twin town Auxerre.

The French have an anti-American government, determined to undermine NATO by creating a separate European army (as it is described by EU president Romano Prodi).

Tony Blair is determined to commit half our armed forces to this European army, even though this could make NATO a relic of the past, in the words of the US Secretary of Defense.

And all because Tony Blair wants to show his pro-European credentials and overcome his embarrassment at not having yet scrapped the pound in favour of the euro, as he promised his fellow European leaders. He is still determined to scrap the pound when he can get away with it, soon after the next election, according to Neil Kinnock.

Tony Blair says he would have a referendum before scrapping the pound. Why should we believe the man who broke his hand-written promises to the people of Northern Ireland that terrorists would not be allowed into government until they had decommissioned their arms? Not only does he let Sinn Fein into the Northern Ireland government without decommissioning - he lets all the terrorists out of prison.

The good news is there will probably be an election within months. You can vote for the party which would give up on NATO, give in to terrorists, give up the pound and give up on Britain. Or you can vote Conservative.

Philip Gretton

Chairman

Redditch Conservative Association

PO Box 6461

Redditch