I WONDER how much tax the Chancellor could knock off existing fuel prices if he refused to send the UK's £5 billion (net) subs to Brussels each year? Quite a considerable sum, I would suspect.

The end result of this courageous move would be lower retail prices throughout Great Britain and extra cash to spend on more urgent needs, eg. hospitals and schools etc.

The disadvantages? Basically none. There are no tangible benefits from this massive drain on national resources anyway. Some people may regret the doubtful privilege of not being allowed to subsidise the economies of Eire, Spain, Portugal and Greece -- not forgetting that vast bureaucratic network based in Brussels from where Chris Davies and his buddies receive their lucrative £62,000 salary plus perks each year.

Britain might even be expelled from the European Union -- with a bit of luck.

Wilfrid Smith,

Blackpool & Fylde Branch of the Democracy Movement, Riversleigh Avenue, Lytham.