THE Dutch voters are demanding a referendum over continued EU membership and now, with the rise of the Alternative for Deutschland party (AfD) in Germany, there are calls in that country for one too.

The EU is increasingly unpopular in Sweden, France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and elsewhere. It is very possible that these nations too will be demanding their own referenda on membership, particularly if the Germans, Dutch or ourselves vote “leave”.

Every ‘member state’ has its anti EU party like UKIP or AfD, and these are making ground rapidly as increasing numbers of voters are beginning to view the EU as an expensive “talking shop”

but useless in the face of real challenges, like the immigration crisis and the failure of the Euro currency.

Those who are still advocating “in” should be thinking very carefully about “in what?”. The way things are going in Brussels, an ‘in’ vote could very easily land us in ‘it’ – up to our necks as the EU dissolves before our very eyes in a year or two.

Throughout history, empires have always fallen apart in violence and the EU looks to be going the same way.

Which way you vote is a matter for you and your conscience, but there is increasing evidence that the wisest course is to leave the sinking ship by jumping into a lifeboat sooner rather than later.

In other words, leaving at a time and under terms of our choosing rather than having terms forced upon us. Waiting until the very end (voting in) would be a huge mistake.

Sue Perkins, Chair UKIP North West Hampshire