VA Cushing (Times letters, October 23) alerts us to the certainty of UKIP's voice being heard. Nigel Farage is a personable and charismatic operator articulating opinions that reflect those of a great many of us throughout the UK. One fact he does not mention of course, is that even given the will, the mandate and a fair wind, withdrawal from the EU will never be accomplished 'overnight'. It would take months, more likely years and incur a very substantial cost, to completely unravel and divorce ourselves from the maelstrom of legislation and contracts to which so many previous  administrations have committed.  Farage may indeed be proved right in his assertion that negotiation is futile; but such a negative starting position is not the stuff of a true statesman, nor anyone seeking success in any venture. For all its breathtakingly outrageous and infuriating deficiencies, membership of the EU — on the right terms — does have advantages, and to unilaterally and totally disengage with not even a thought or attempt at negotiation is akin to a man jumping off Beachy Head in order to rid himself of indigestion!  David Cameron is the only political leader to advocate a strategy at once businesslike, pragmatic and, irrespective of outcome, potentially beneficial to the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has already made his point and reputation, highlighting the electorate's widespread disillusionment with the EU.  If, as he claims, he puts country before party, he now has an enviable opportunity to further enhance his stature by consigning his ego to the back shelf, placing his undoubted skills, support and, if necessary, shoulder, behind the re-election in 2015 of a strong Conservative majority and engaging alongside rather than in opposition to Cameron in dealing with Brussels.  B Howard Okehampton