Fiona Stokes's letter (readers' times, January 26) was badly timed.

Just as she is urging readers to register with Vote Leave to support Britains's exit from the EU, we hear that the European Commission is about to investigate the tax affairs of a number of tax avoiding multinationals, after our own Tory Government, in hock to big business, made a derisory tax deal with Google.

A fair tax arrangement with these global business empires would help eliminate the UK budget deficit very rapidly and the only way to stand up to them is through multinational organisations like the EU.

Ms Stokes also omits mention of the other two "Brexit" organisations. Vote Leave, Leave.EU and GrassrootsOut are all squabbling over who is to be the "official" Out group and so receive the £0.5M funding from the Electoral Commission for their campaign.

However, none of these bickering, Little Britain organisations has yet made a compelling case to take the lead, far less one for removing Britain from the EU.

The net cost of our membership of the EU is only around 0.5% of UK GDP, less than our overseas aid budget, and the EU although still very far from perfect, has provided immense tangible and intangible benefits for the British, including capping European mobile phone roaming charges, airline delay compensation, free study at European Universities, free state healthcare throughout the EU, shoppers rights on purchases from EU countries, working and trading across borders and much, much more.

Reputable studies have shown that the costs to this country of leaving the EU would be many times our net contribution and would in all likelihood trigger the break up of the UK as Scotland would, very sensibly, want to remain part of the EU.

IAN QUAYLE

Fownhope