Sir – In response to letters from David Barnby and Vincent Wales on the subject of the Lisbon Treaty, the question is not that a referendum should be held on the Lisbon Treaty – by the time of the next General Election it will have become a legally binding treaty – but on the question of EU membership ‘per se’.

Any referendum must, of necessity, ask whether we wish to remain a member or not, and, if the latter, whether we wish to become a ‘trading partner’, which is what those of us, who last had a chance to express an opinion, thought we had voted for.

David Cameron presents himself as a eurosceptic, yet is on record as stating that the UK should remain a member of the EU.

We now have the infamous ‘we will not let matters rest there’ – an utterly meaningless statement.

Unfortunately, whenever the EU question arises, it would seem that the Conservative Party can ‘talk the talk’.

But when it comes to ‘walk the walk’, finding the road closed, they sit down and wait for someone else to suggest another route.

Vincent Wales calls for ‘a leader with the backbone to stand up for our rights’, something, alas, he will not find amongst the three main political parties.

With regard to David Cameron in particular, three times he has been challenged by the UK Independence Party to a public debate in Witney, on the UK’s membership of the EU, and three times declined.

Is David Cameron so unsure of his policy he feels unable to justify it in public debate – something, surely, his constituents, let alone the country, deserve?

For Mr Wales, and so many like him who are listening, someone is talking to you – the UK Independence Party.

David Phipps, Chairman, Witney Constituency Association, UK Independence Party