FOR 15 years I represented Merseyside in the European Parliament, and I am deeply worried that our votes on June 23 threaten the future of Britain and may destroy the stability of Europe, with consequences that will be good for no-one.

We seem to have lost sight of the big picture.

For all its faults, the partnership of 28 nations that is the European Union has been a tremendous force for good.

How easily we forget that British troops and tanks were not so long ago based in Germany to defend us from the Soviet threat.

Today a host of former dictatorships have become democracies.

Problems are resolved not on a bloody battlefield but around committee tables in Brussels. British values have been embraced as European values.

You hear a lot about EU rules and regulations but it's often the case that instead of 28 different rules we now have just one.

That's good for business, for exporters and for our pockets.

If we leave the EU we will still have to meet these standards in order to trade.

We won't become stronger by leaving the room where the decisions are made. To do so would be like shooting ourselves in the foot.

The British have become experts at criticising the EU, sometimes with good reason, but we would be poorer without it.

Chris Davies by email