EXCLUSIVE

ONE of Worcestershire's best-known former MPs today enters the EU debate - saying Brexit would leave Britain "less prosperous, less secure and less important".

Sir Peter Luff, who stood down last year after 18 years in parliament, has urged county voters to step back from the brink by supporting Remain.

The former defence minister has also admitted to being concerned about the polls being so close and has hit out at both sides for "failing to inspire" the nation.

The ex-Conservative minister's intervention came after the chairman of cafe chain Patisserie Valerie, Malvern-based businessman and multi-millionaire Luke Johnson, came out for Brexit.

Sir Peter said: "It's been a disappointing campaign in which the two sides have failed to inspire with any sense of vision for our nation.

"Both have played too much to fear - of immigration on one side and the threat to our economy on the other.

"But these are issues of real importance and the facts are equally clear.

"We'll be less prosperous if we quit the EU - our economy will take a big hit if we leave the massive free trade area of the single market, and that means jobs will be lost and household budgets will suffer.

"It will be many years until we can negotiate new trade deals with other countries, and the rules of our largest market - Europe - will be set without us."

He also told the Worcester News he felt immigration would not fall under Brexit because Britain would still require the workers - and that the entire cohesion of the EU would be at risk.

"We'd be less secure because we will have endangered the cohesion of the whole European Union," he said.

"The unprecedented 70 year peace we have enjoyed within Europe owes much to the EU.

"We will be less influential in the world because we will have thrown away our ability to help shape the decisions of the EU - less prosperous, less secure, less important."

He also said he felt Brexit would leave continent "dominated by those whose interests we did not share".

"We have fought diplomatic battles and waged wars for centuries to prevent this," he said.

"We would guarantee that the future of Europe is decided by those who do not have our interests at heart.

"We cannot walk away from Europe but we can throw away our influence over our neighbours.

To leave the EU would be to diminish our great nation."

"There is only one way to protect British jobs, British security, British influence in the world - to vote Remain."

Sir Peter was MP for Worcester between 1992 and 1997, before switching to Mid-Worcestershire, where he remained until last year's General Election.

His full piece can be seen below.

WHY WE NEED THE EU - BY SIR PETER LUFF

"A year ago, and after over twenty-five years, I left politics, took up a non-partisan role and vowed to keep my views to myself from then on.

However, as we approach Thursday's referendum, by far the most important decision this nation will take in a generation, I hope no one will object if I make a brief and local intervention.

It has been a disappointing campaign in which the two sides have failed to inspire with any sense of vision for our nation.

Both have played too much to fear - of immigration on one side and of the threat to our economy on the other.

These are issues of real importance and the facts are equally clear. 

We will be less prosperous if we quit the EU. Our economy will take a big hit if we leave the massive free trade area of the single market and that means jobs will be lost and household budgets will suffer.

It will be many years until we can negotiate new trade deals with other countries, and the rules of our largest market  - Europe - will be set without us.

And the regulations we always said came from Brussels will largely stay in place, either to enable us to continue to trade with the EU or because we will miraculously discover we need them anyhow.

What's more, if we leave the European Union, immigration will not fall significantly because we will soon find we still need the skills these migrants bring, even with a smaller economy.

We will be less secure because we will have endangered the cohesion of the whole European Union. The unprecedented seventy year peace we have enjoyed within Europe owes much to the EU.

We will be less influential in the world  because we will have thrown away our ability to help shape the decisions of the EU.

Less prosperous, less secure, less important.

But these are all negatives - or seem to be. I do not want these things but it's what a life outside the EU would mean. Positively, being in means more prosperity, more security and more influence.

It's that last point about the influence we gain that particularly needs to be spoken of more.

That's why all our allies in the Commonwealth and around the world want us to stay in the EU.

Because, in the EU, we are a force for good. Whether it's open markets, deregulation, the environment or standing up for the importance of NATO as a guarantor of our wider safety, it is the UK that speaks up for these things - and shapes the policies of the EU.

We set the agenda more often than we realise and in doing so make the world, Europe and our nation all better places. Patriots should be fiercely proud of what we do in Europe.

The key message of the Remain campaign, that we are safer, stronger and more prosperous in the EU than we would be out of it, is an optimistic message. And the theme of strength needs more emphasis.

If we leave the EU we cannot leave Europe. Our history has always been and always will be linked intimately to Europe.

We have always understood that we could not allow the Continent to be dominated by those whose interests we did not share.

We have fought diplomatic battles and waged wars for centuries to prevent this.

If we leave the EU, though, that is precisely what will happen. We will guarantee that the future of Europe is decided by those who do not have our interests at heart.

We cannot walk away from Europe but we can throw away our influence over our neighbours.

To leave the EU would be to diminish our great nation. It would not liberate us but rather leave us more at the mercy of events that are determined by others.

To remain is to provide an opportunity for real leadership.

I'm not saying for one minute that the EU is a perfect institution - no human institution is.

But I am saying that by being in it we make it better and protect our interests more effectively. And if we leave the EU, its influence will, unavoidably, be felt in our country still.

There is only one way to protect British jobs, British security, British influence in the world. That is to vote Remain."