EU rescued North East

Mr Carden should know there’s not a remote possibility of Turkey becoming a member. The Turks first applied to join in 1987. Since then it has passed only one of the 36 economic, social and political tests set by the EU. Even then, any of the EU member states can reject Turkey’s applications.

Not a peep from Brexiteers regarding the state of UK economy if we leave. That’s been left to the chairman of Hitachi to shed light on.

He explained why he considered it important for Britain to remain in the EU. He said they had invested over a billion pounds, creating new jobs in Britain’s rail and energy sector. Japanese investors provide 140,000 direct jobs in the UK and many more in the supply chain. Take away the UK’s membership of the EU and the investment case looks very different.

In the 1980s Nissan and Toyota came to the UK as, by producing here with a British workforce, they would be treated as European companies. The chairman said he was worried the Brexiteer had no answer to how the UK could negotiate, cost free access to the EU’s huge market from a position outside it.

This would take a long time and result in uncertain market conditions. During this period investors would hold back on investment and jobs would be lost.

Brexit will force us and similar companies to rethink because we still have a European vision and would be disadvantaged in pursuing it from the UK. Anyone impartial reading the chairman’s words would realise there is a chance of a decline in the economy if we leave.

The last serious downturn in the economy was in the 1980s when Mrs Thatcher closed our shipyards and coal mines.

She left us to “God and good neighbours”. They turned out to be the EU, who poured billions of pounds into the North East. Outside the EU we could not receive any aid and the working class would be left at the mercy of a Tory Government who have already proven they are more right wing than Margaret Thatcher ever was.

W Quinn