I have always had a very keen interest in the security and defence of our nation, which is why I am pleased to be a member of the Security and Defence Committee in the European Parliament.

There are many economic difficulties facing us in these difficult times, but the primary concern of politicians should always be the safety and security of those they represent.

That’s why I have become very concerned about the possibility of a ‘merger’ between Britain’s defence manufacturer, BAE, and its Franco-German equivalent EADS.

The proposed ‘merger’ of BAE by EADS is a Euro federalist’s dream, and it is in effect a total surrender of our national defence capability. I firmly believe it should be ruled out immediately by the British Government using appropriate tools such as the Golden Share (a national Government’s ability to veto a bid offer).

What makes such a takeover particularly worrying, is that it comes at the same time 11 Foreign Ministers, including France and Germany, recently advocated moving to a single European army.

It is proposed that the single European Army would come under the control of Baroness Ashton, the former Treasurer of CND, which raises the question; will she be commanding our next nuclear submarines – made in France?

The stakes for such a takeover are momentous: this is no ordinary commercial decision but a vital decision about our independent national security.

It incorporates loss of skilled British jobs, of US markets, compatibility and shared technology such as cruise, stealth, not to say co-operative trust leading back to World War 2, the loss of work to a Franco-German biased organisation (Airbus is under pressure to bleed jobs from UK to the Continental core now) and the inability of our nation to defend ourselves unilaterally in times of crisis without EU say so, presumably by Baroness Ashton.

This is an appalling proposal that must be rejected with immediate effect.