SO IN the Brexit world-view, the present Tata Steel crisis is all due to our EU membership (Letters, April 21). This is a very strange world-view indeed.

Raw steel production was once a prime measure of a nation’s industrial strength. Such figures show UK steel production has halved since we joined the EU. Yet such decline is not seen elsewhere in the EU as our EU partners take better care of their steel industries.

Steel suffers more than most industries from economic booms and busts. Without deep pockets, public or private, any integrated steel industry is doomed.

In UK those steel-supporting pockets disappeared under Thatcher and Blair, replaced by foreigner investors like Tata. Now Tata has had enough and the uncertainty caused by the Brexit referendum will not be helping find a rescue package.

Steel shows well the utter foolishness of one particular Brexit argument. As with trade overall, so with steel, we buy more from the EU (4.7Mt steel) than they do from us (3.9Mt steel).

Brexit folk argue this gives us a position of strength when negotiating a Brexit trade deal.

How naive is that! UK steel sells 32 per cent of its output to the EU. The EU sell us only three per cent of their production. Who then holds all the cards?

Brexit folk are right in one respect. We should not be fearful of Brexit. Indeed so. We should be petrified.

DR MARTIN RODGER

Bloxworth Road, Poole

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