SIR - Drugs and prostitution have caused the UK economy to increase by around £9bn, resulting in the EU demanding an additional £1.7bn as they consider us to be doing better than expected.

It is anomalous that on their own admission, France does not include prostitution and illegal drugs in its calculations and thus in yet another instance manipulates EU legislation to its own advantage.

Bradford must be making an inordinate contribution to the UK economy and no doubt the leader of our council will quantify and use this as a negotiating ploy when resisting cuts in Government funding.

John Pashley, Westcliffe Avenue, Baildon