Letter: EU's fatal flaw

I MUST thank Allan Massie for, albeit unwittingly, giving me fresh insight into the European Union (Perspective, 13 October).

He noted that no "mainstream" political party in any of the member states campaigns to leave the EU. This contrasts starkly with the attitudes of the majority of ordinary people in Britain and a great many throughout the EU.

No "mainstream" party in Britain and very few in the other states will trust their people with a referendum. And it is precisely that gulf between Europe's elites and its peoples which is, I believe, the EU's fundamental weakness and will in due course prove fatal.

If our leaders can't trust us with a referendum under normal circumstances, what will happen in time of deep crisis when they need to call on our support?

There is a name for such a polity where the rulers do not trust the people. And in a crisis, such polities can and do collapse with lightening rapidity.

OTTO INGLIS

Inveralmond Grove

Edinburgh