This letter was sent to the Echo by Prime Minister David Cameron. Let us know your thoughts below.

A big decision is around the corner for us all. Do we choose to stay in a reformed European Union or do we walk away for good?

Over the coming weeks you’ll hear all sorts of arguments. But I think the key question we have to ask ourselves is straightforward - will families here in Bournemouth, and across the UK, be better off inside a reformed EU or out on our own?

My position is clear: we will be stronger, safer and better off by staying in. And I think that, for people in Bournemouth, the benefits of remaining part of this massive free trade area are more important than anywhere. Let me explain why.

Today, the service sector accounts for some 80 per cent of the UK economy. We have become the world's second largest exporter of services – a global centre for insurance, banking, accountancy, advertising and architecture.

It is here in the UK that we do the sums, write the contracts, design the buildings, develop the brands and insure the assets. It is on these shores that we manage the communications and the sales for customers across the world.

And here in Bournemouth, the importance of services is even greater than in other parts of the country. This part of the economy accounts for a huge 94 per cent of Bournemouth’s jobs – that’s 76,000 people working for local employers, big and small.

Britain sold £226 billion worth of services abroad last year, second only to the United States. And where is our biggest export market for services? By far, it is the European Union.

Britain’s trade in services with the EU has grown at more than twice the rate of EU economic growth since 1998. Yes, our exports to countries like India and China are growing too, but they remain a tiny proportion. In contrast, 44 per cent of the UK’s goods and services go to the EU.

And not only does being in the EU grant us access to the world’s largest single market – one with over 500 million consumers – but it gives us a strong say over the rules of that trade.

So what would leaving the EU mean for our service sector? The answer is, no one can be sure.

The sort of restrictions countries can put in place to block the import of services take many forms. They range from excessive licensing requirements, to the refusal to recognise UK professional qualifications.

Within the EU none of these barriers exist but if we left, there is a clear risk that many of them would be put back up.

It would be a leap into the dark for Bournemouth’s businesses. And when so many people’s jobs and so many families’ livelihoods are at stake, that simply isn’t a gamble I am prepared to support.

Compare the unknown consequences of leaving the EU with the guarantees if we vote to stay in. Our businesses will continue to have access to that hugely important free trade single market and guaranteed rights to offer services anywhere in the EU.

Not only that but, thanks to the new deal we have negotiated, we will have the best of both worlds in our relationship and a special status which keeps us out of the parts of Europe we don’t want.

That is why a vote to stay in the EU makes economic sense. To cut ourselves off from this market; to go back to square one; to put all those jobs at risk, would be nothing short of reckless.

As Bournemouth demonstrates as clearly as anywhere, being able to sell services within the EU isn’t just an advantage – it’s crucial to Britain’s economic success.