SIR – David Cameron’s speech promising an in/out referendum on EU membership – in four or five years’ time if he remains as Prime Minister and subject to renegotiations about issues yet to be specified – has more to do with trying to unify the Conservative Party and eliminate UKIP as an electoral threat to the Tories than reforming our relationship with our European partners.

But with so many Tory MPs wanting Britain to pull out of the EU, what Cameron is promising will not be enough and it will not be long before these hardliners start to cut up rough again.

Meanwhile, Cameron is creating economic uncertainty and risking Britain becoming even more isolated in Europe.

I have met business leaders in Worcester who say they “shudder” every time the subject of EU membership is raised by the Tories because the success of their business depends on positive relationships with their European counterparts and investors.

What they want is a Prime Minister flying the flag for British manufacturing and business in Europe, taking the lead on promoting growth in Europe so that demand for British products improves and our exports pick up.

Worcester jobs are at stake in all this – that should be more important than the internal politics of the Conservative Party.

Joy Squires

Labour Party parliamentary

candidate for Worcester