The issue of our membership of the European Union is complex and it seems that most people have a view on it.

What started out as a common market allowing free trade between member states has grown into an entity in its own right.

It has ambitions of financial and political union across all member states despite all the member states having long and very different cultural histories.

Rules and regulations are imposed on all member states with penalties for non compliance.

We pay significant more into the EU than we get out. Too often we are all encouraged to seek EU grants, that we might not need, just because we might as well because we have paid in. If we did not have to pay into the EU we could spend the money on what is important and necessary for our citizens.

It has its own police force that can operate in all member states independent of member states own police forces.

The EU has a system of governance that is unclear, expensive to operate and does not seem to reflect the wishes of the member states. It moves location in Europe on a regular basis for no good reason. The EU is wasteful, beaurocratic and smothers innovation and economic development. Unsurprisingly, the Lib Dem MP, Julian Huppert is pro- Europe.

Our own Parliament has become subordinate to the European Union.

All of this could possibly be ok if the citizens of the member states want it. But ………. we have never been asked nor given the opportunity to express a view.

We need to repatriate our sovereignty and trust in our own accountable parliament. EU law repeatedly gets in the way of us doing the right thing for our own citizens, often to prop up another country in Europe. Frankly we need to do what is right for Britain and if that means exiting from the EU then so be it.

It is time for a referendum to give our citizens the opportunity to decide what they want. Many Conservatives feel this way. Join us in encouraging our government to resist any increases in our EU budget payments and to hold a referendum as soon as possible.