My grandfather fought in the First World War, and my father and father-in-law in the Second World War. I served in the Army in the 70s and spent three years in Germany with my wife. I never had problems with the Germans, whether travelling in the country or during the times I lived in a rented apartment in the local village. Unfortunately, the Germans have the same problem we Britons have – they are led by idiots. When I heard Cameron say (Peston on Sunday interview) that “you can always get rid of” political parties in Westminster, but that outcome of the EU referendum will be ‘impossible to reverse’,” he hit the nail on the head – we CAN get rid of our government by democratic means, but we CANNOT get rid of the unelected Commissioners in Brussels. Our governments may make mistakes, but our politicians can be called to account for them by the electorate every five years – see how much luck you have removing any of the unelected EU bureaucrat. If the UK votes “out”, other EU countries will demand their referenda and, maybe, our referendum will initiate the demand for what most voters in 1975 thought they had voted for – a Common Market. Forget about the complexity of the EU Referendum debate – the basic question is simple – “Who do you want to rule our country?” Name and address supplied EUROPE Leaving would put NHS in intensive care As the campaign to leave or stay in Europe reaches a crescendo with irate politicians making their case for in or out, we the electorate are left trying to make sense of the rhetoric. Many issues I know need to be looked at in detail as they have not been covered in a rational way. One of our main institutions at risk is the NHS, which is under-funded by our government and most certainly, if Brexit were delivered, it would be extremely vulnerable. Leaving the EU would create a further vacuum in staff shortages and would surely hit the quality of services, as the TUC has pointed out. Just fewer than 50,000 citizens from the European Economic Area (EEA) currently work in the NHS, including over 9,000 doctors; 18,000 nurses, midwives and health visitors; and 2,500 other professionals, such as physios and radiographers. These workers provide vital skills and expertise – and they plug gaps left by the underfunding of training places. Given the government’s plans to end training bursaries and another five-year squeeze on NHS funding, getting the necessary turnabout in the numbers of home-grown health professionals does not look likely to happen any time soon. So we will end up with a staffing crisis that hurts our health service. Then out of the union, we will no longer qualify for the European health insurance card that covers us with NHS insurance while travelling to other EU countries. The NHS is a key battleground that will affect us all and Brexit would harm it. Our NHS has suffered under this Tory government, but leaving the union would put it into intensive care for good. Roy Lewis Haddon Road Blackpool EUROPE We would have the money to mow grass What a wonderful picture Robert Wood paints of the benefits to Blackpool coming from EU funding. A simple search on the internet shows that in 2015 the UK contributed £13 billion to the EU budget. EU spending on the UK in 2015 was £4.5 billion. A net total of £8.5 billion of our money is being given to other EU countries. Heavens, if we did not lose that amount there would possibly be enough money in the country to have our grass cut and green bins collected! Roy Gregson Blossom Avenue Blackpool PLANNING These flats will blight the area Sometimes one reads an article and has to blink in disbelief. Regarding the ugly new build proposed for South Prom (Gazette, May 31), what is in the minds of planning officers when they recommend planning approval for a huge block of flats, the design of which will blight the area? They feel that the “regenerative benefits of the proposal will outweigh the disadvantages of not providing one parking space per flat ” The whole area will be flooded with parked cars from 113 flats, with many flats having two cars. My sympathies lie with the nearby residents, and could someone tell me why new builds have to be so unattractive ? Alex via email POLITICS Blair is the betrayer of the Labour Party Tony Blair is the latest figure in the Labour Party continuing the daily undermining of Jeremy Corbyn. Mr Blair carried out the biggest betrayal of a Labour government in my lifetime. Mr Corbyn should continue his good work of winning back disaffected Labour voters and the Blairites should stop complaining and start campaigning. John Appleyard Address supplied