SIR – If we live in a Parliamentary democracy, why are we repeatedly denied any vote on one of the most important issues ever, our future membership or otherwise of the European Union.

It is 37 years since we voted on the ‘Common Market’ in 1975, with no-one today under age 55 having participated in that referendum. In between times, several generations of new voters have been effectively disenfranchised.

All party leaders promise a referendum, but never ‘now’ – only ‘when the time is right’, which in reality means never.

The perfect example is the Lisbon Treaty, over which in opposition David Cameron promised faithfully to give us a vote, that is until he got elected, then as usual it wasn’t convenient!

By the 2015 General Election, it will be 40 years without a vote on the EU, which is exactly the time scale of the various dictatorships in the Middle East, eg, Libya, Egypt and Syria, where those millions were denied a vote for decades – and look where they are today.

The sad truth is that the EU is such a lucrative ‘gravy train’ for politicians, the interests of the ordinary people count for nothing.

D S Boyes, Rodley Lane, Leeds