EVERY day we look in despair at Kenya falling apart along tribal lines, Iraq along religious and tribal lines and Mugabe doing the same to his country. We talk as if we cannot understand their intolerance. Yet still the calls for the UK and Europe to divide along tribal lines goes out.

There appear to be more letters about this in The Northern Echo than anything else. The UK has fallen apart and will disintegrate completely as soon as the Scots get complete independence. All so little men can play big fish in a small pool.

When will people realise we are all human beings with the same goals of living in peace, providing for our families and having a good life for which we need to work together?

The EU is not perfect and the European Commission too undemocratic, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Work for reform, make the European Parliament more democratic and let it rule.

Could we not be like America, Australia or Canada - citizens of our country first and our individual states second?

Tom Cooper, Durham.