EUROPEAN FUNDING

YOUR story, "Town celebrates help from European Union" (Echo, May 10) would have the public believe £28m has been received by projects in Middlesbrough in "gifts" from the EU.

Further examination of the process reveals a different picture.

Great Britain is a net contributor to the EU, currently £12.8bn pa, or £1.25m per hour. The so-called "European funding" and "structural funds" that we receive is simply a proportion of our own money being returned to us. As if that were not humiliation enough, we are obliged to establish drone organisations to engage in this recycling process; eg, regional development agency One NorthEast.

The net effect is that for every pound we receive in "funding", it costs us as a nation three pounds. Therefore this "gift" of £28m is at a cost of £84m - some gift.

If we were not an EU member, we would not need to give away £12.8bn of taxpayers' money. This would remain in the UK for us to allocate on essential resources and services. We also remove the army of useless drones that pollute the political landscape, pleading with Brussels for the return of our own money.

The sooner we begin the process of EU withdrawal the better. - Dave Pascoe, UK Independence Party, Hartlepool.