Letter: Why we need European single taxes

Sir: So John Major finds it "very surprising" that Ford has decided to take production of the Escort abroad because it is easier to make British workers redundant ("Ford puts Liverpool on road to nowhere", 17 January). May I offer him an explanation?

Britain, unlike Spain and Germany, has refused to sign up to the European Union Social Chapter. This makes our already depleted manufacturing base even more vulnerable.

Mr Major should wake up to the fact that most European manufacturing companies are just that - they operate on a European stage. Isolation will inevitably be to our detriment and flexibility will mean nothing if we have no industry to be flexible with.

MELISSA HAWKER

Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire