IN a month's time we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the battle of the Somme, which ended with almost one million soldiers killed or wounded.

Surely this is the moment when we should also be celebrating the success of the European Union, the greatest peace project in the history of the world?

These days, when there is a dispute between rival governments in Europe we don't send millions of young people to die on the battlefields, instead we set up a sub-committee in Brussels to "jaw jaw" instead of war war.

The EU will never be perfect; its 28 members all have interests of their own, but they also face common problems that require shared solutions.

This is the time to remember that partnership and progress is better than isolation and conflict.

Chris Davies, North West Liberal Democrats, Oldham.