GERMANY is recognised for being highly efficient and a country that is the powerhouse of Europe and the EU, but after recent events that is now being called into question. First Chancellor Angela Merkel has been blamed for causing the current and ongoing migrant crisis with her open door policy of migrants into her country. That is encouraging millions to make the perilous journey from Syria and causing mayhem in the countries between their arrival point and their chosen destination, Germany.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, has now forced other EU member states, who are signed up the Schengen Agreement to accept quotas of the 120,000 that have so far arrived from Italy and Greece. Many are economic migrants seeking a better life, and how many are terrorists?

All this without any thought for the residents, businesses, religious concerns or economies of these countries, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic and all the others that are already affected.

Now we hear about the VW exhaust-rigging scandal that has affected 11 million vehicles worldwide, which will be extremely expensive for the car giant to resolve the issues that are now accruing, legal action, compensation etc and to the German economy.

Not a happy time for Angela Merkel or VW, or the rest of the member states having the migrants forced onto them. It is time that we left the EU to its own devices and all that goes with them.

Philip Griffiths, UKIP (via email)