MANY column inches and numerous letters have been published in The Northern Echo in the last three years relating to the EU.

Little space has been devoted to the cost of your individual membership contribution to the EU.

I am sure that The Northern Echo will have access to accurate figures, but Iain Bain of the London School of Economics, writing in January 2016, estimated that the cost per head of the UK population was £228.44 in 2014.

Remember that the EU is entirely dependent upon the contributions of the tax-payers of the member states for its revenue to operate, and allowing for fluctuations in annual contributions, a reasonable assumption for the average annual contribution per person between 1999 and 2019 might be £175.

For a family of four that equates to £700 x 20 which equals £14,000 over 20 years. Assuming that the average contribution per person between 1974 and 1998 was £100 then a family of four would have had to contribute an additional £400 x 24 which equals £9,600. You are invited to calculate your own family’s contribution.

In the event of the EU parliamentary elections or another EU referendum taking place, will the result of your calculations influence the way in which you choose to vote?

Tim Brown, Ferryhill