PROBABLY the last comments that David Cameron wished to read as he was busily writing the coalition government’s Queen’s Speech was Clacton MP Douglas Carswell’s helpful advice that Britain should quit the European Union by 2020.

Mr Carswell is now the most Eurosceptic MP in the House of Commons, following the defeat of David Heathcoat-Amory at the General Election.

He is proudly independent minded and is unlikely to keep quiet, even if the Government Chief Whip threatens all sorts of political sanctions.

Having stunned Labour by being elected to the new Clacton constituency with a five-figure majority – helped by the decision of the UK Independence Party not to put up a candidate against him – Carswell now has the legitimacy of an overwhelming mandate to harry the new government on Britain’s membership of the EU.

He has used the Adjournment column in The House Magazine - the weekly journal about politics in the Commons and the Lords – to fire a warning shot across Cameron’s bows.

Carswell believes that free from the shackles of Brussels, Britain could once again become “economically competitive and renew our moribund democracy.”

“It is impossible to ignore how many of the key decisions that affect our constituents’ lives were made not by anyone they voted for, but by unaccountable officials.

“NHS productivity is governed by EU rules on how long doctors can work. How often your local council is able to empty bins is governed by the EU Landfill Directive.

“Representative government has been increasingly usurped by quango government, presided over by the biggest quango of the lot – the European Commission in Brussels.

“Leaving the EU is not about going backwards. We must take powers from Brussels and pass them down to local people and town halls.”

His arguments don’t impress Labour’s Euro MP for the East of England Richard Howitt. “Mr Carswell’s personal views are well known but my concern is that they may be taken seriously in the corridors of power,

“The anti-EU brigade is a vocal minority. It is time for the silent majority to start making the case that British interests and Britain’s influence are best protected by taking a major role in the European Community.”