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My complaint is that those who could afford a private pension fund are (or were) allowed access to it from the age of 55 whereas those who couldn't afford to save for one are forced to wait until they reach state pension age before they can access their state pension. That is now changing...

£40k per year which is more than most people earn to begin with! And also I think you'll find that company executives (which I specifically mentioned) do not have to "save" for their private pension as it is provided separately by their employer.

Why should they receive a tax concession when everyone else is told they must slave away until they are 68 or 70 before they can enjoy the same privilege?

Except for company executives of course, who can still retire at 55 with huge tax concessions.

You mean as opposed to the national insurance contributions those same elderly have paid their entire working lives?

And yet they were still discussing Turkey membership a whole month after that article was published!

And yet the EU parliament continually discuss the subject. Seems an odd thing to do, discuss something which can never happen?

It'll be when a politically opportune moment arises, just as it did with Spain, Portugal, Greece and most east european countries. It doesn't take much for any current objections to be cast aside. An example is Spain being allowed to join despite refusing to acknowledge British sovereignty over...

Post deleted before the neighbours can read it.

I've not witnessed that many myself, they're mostly from Commonwealth countries.

Why would they offer you a decent trade agreement when you've already agreed to pay them what they want? The one negotiating tool you had is now gone.

"No deal" is still a possibility, I would say a probability. If the UK gets any kind of 'deal' then every other country in the EU will demand one as well.

This was in 1972, there was no popular vote. Ted Heath signed up without any referendum.

The trade was all one way. Britain was happy to buy goods made in the EU whereas EU countries were very reluctant to buy goods made in the UK. That resulted in the UK now having a trade deficit of £80billion a year with the EU in manufactured goods. Factories which one made goods in the UK such...

I doubt if anyone who once worked in the manufacturing sector would agree.

So jobs in manufacturing rose after membership then did they? I don't know anyone who wanted to be part of any 'project', least of all a fully integrated EU superstate with no national boundaries. The referendum was held solely on the basis of whether voters approved of the new terms of...

Neither am I. I am saying that membership of the EU has failed to stop Britain from falling behind other nations despite claims at the time of joining that it would.

Supposedly with the six original Common Market member states. Am I indeed? I assume you never watched financial shows such as The Money Programme or the televised debates of the period and professor James Bellini's famous comment that "The Common Market is not a clinic you take your financial...

We were told at the time that the aim of Britain joining the Common Market was to "catch up" with other European countries. You now admit that has been a spectacular failure.

After 44 years of British membership of the EU did you or did you not say: "Look at how the world has changed, how other countries are catching us up or overtaking us"?