MADAM – I read with astonishment in the Mail on Sunday (August 24, 2014) that the EU, which all your parties actively support, agreed to provide £1.6 million to fund bin collections in Cuba in April at a time when many local authorities throughout the UK have been forced to implement a fortnightly bin collection, thereby attracting increased vermin to the detriment of public health.

Cuba is a communist country with a questionable human rights record.

In total, £68.7 million in international development funding has been given to Cuba alone by Brussels since 2008.

I believe that the people of Stroud deserve an answer to the question as to why this situation has occurred and since you are all either an MP, MEP or Parliamentary Candidate, I would like to know how you propose to ensure that the EU does not continue to waste our hard-earned monies on such projects when our councils are struggling to maintain public services.

Do you agree that Stroud taxpayers’ money should be spent in this way?

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Caroline Stephens

United Kingdom Independence Party Parliamentary candidate Stroud