SIR - In his letter (T&A, July 2) that indefatigable Europhile, Stuart Baker, claims that the cost of living in the UK is more than 30 per cent higher than in Europe.

Is that Europe as a whole, or the EU?

I do not know what the figure is but my visits to Europe do not lend credence to his figure.

Has he taken an average of the whole of Europe, which will of course include our own figure so he reckons there are some members with a very, very low index and some with an extremely high one much higher than ours?

As he says, there is something to be learned here, so perhaps he will be forthcoming with some genuine statistics on each member.

One thing for sure, we could help reduce ours by withdrawing from the EU.

Philip Bird, Nab Wood terrace, Shipley