IN 2006, I was the first Member of Parliament to publicly call for the UK to leave the EU, and during these ten years, I have studied the UK’s relationship with the EU and strongly believe we do not have the best deal.

One of the main arguments for staying in the EU is influence – that we need to be at the top table making the decisions. Yet, this influence is an illusion.

During the past Parliamentary session, the UK voted against 23 motions in the EU Council – and in every single instance, we were outvoted.

Instead of being one of nine countries, like in 1975, we are now one of 28.

The EU has grown tremendously during the past 40 years and, with each new country, our influence lessens.

If we leave the EU, we will regain our power to negotiate our own trade deals with whoever we want.

Trade will not be lost in the case of Brexit, and the reason is that trade is a two-way street – our European neighbours make money from us, too! In fact, they make more money from us than we do from them. Every year since 1973, Britain has been running a balance of trade deficit with the EU, which was a staggering £68 billion in 2015. In fact, the House of Commons library has confirmed that if we left the EU, the UK would be the EU’s single biggest export market – bigger than the US and China – and it is safe to say that Germany will still want to sell us BMWs and Mercedes and France will still want to sell champagne and cheese to us.

The free movement of people is also a concern for many. We currently have an immigration policy that has unlimited and uncontrolled EU migration. Every year, we need to build a city the size of Newcastle to keep up with immigration into the UK, and it is putting a huge strain on housing, school places and the NHS. We can only control immigration if we leave the EU.

Back in 1975, the countries that now make up the EU accounted for 33 per cent of the world economy. Today, it is 24 per cent, and by 2030, according to the House of Commons library, it will be 17 per cent. By 2050, it will be just 13 per cent. The EU is a declining part of the world economy.

Still, we pay a net membership fee of £10 billion each year for a £68 billion trade deficit. We could have this for nothing!

Britain built its wealth by being a global trader and our future prosperity depends on trading with China, India, South America and emerging economies in Africa. Not being stuck to an inward-facing, backward-looking protection racket.

In order to regain control of our country, join me and vote ‘leave’ on June 23.

Philip Davies MP