This letter by Nicholas was published in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday. 

SIR - Col Richard Kemp claims that it is an "absolute certainty" that Britain would be forced to join an EU army if voters don't opt for Brexit (report, April 3). This is utter nonsense.

The deal Mr Cameron has negotiated gives us a permanent opt-out from any commitment to ever-closer union. It ensures we retain control of our Armed Forces with a veto on all defence matters. We will never join an EU army.

Col Kemp is also wrong to suggest that the EU undermines Nato. Britain has the best of both worlds - benefiting from Nato's military might and the EU's complementary levers, especially the power to impose sanctions on Russia.

Finally, he suggests the EU could prevent our Armed Forces defending the Falkland Islands. This scare story is an insult to the 1,200 British personnel defending those islands today, and is equally false.

Sir Nicholas Soames MP (Con) Minister of State for the Armed Forces 1994-1997 London SW1