SIR – The letter from Wendy Hands (November 25) about the EU had factual errors in almost every paragraph.

May I highlight just one, namely that “increasing numbers of EU citizens regret being members of the EU, but this is rarely reported in our press”.

This is certainly not the case in Worcestershire, and the following facts are worth recalling.

At the last general election, the UKIP candidates for the seats of Worcester, Mid- Worcestershire and West Worcestershire polled less than 5,000 votes between all three of them – from of a total of more than 140,000 people who voted. By gaining only about 3.5 per cent of the poll on average, well under the five per cent threshold, all three candidates promptly lost their deposit.

Despite this tiny representation throughout the county, the number of column inches their supporters manage to generate in the Letters Page is consistently well over 3.5 per cent of the total.

This is no criticism of the Worcester News. It is a simple reflection of three things: the tenacity of the tiny minority who regularly bombard the editor with letters contriving to hold the EU somehow responsible for all the problems in the universe; the fact that such a relentless letterwriting campaign costs nothing apart from stamps and the limitless patience of readers, and, finally, the generosity of our free press. I am a great supporter of the free press – but there are times...

PHILIP BUSHILLMATTHEWS

MEP, European Parliament, Brussels.