*** EXPRESS BACKS A REFERENDUM 24-Oct-2010 - 'AN EU REFERENDUM MUST BE HELD'
AN EU REFERENDUM MUST BE HELD
Sunday October 24-2010
So why such a voracious appetite for our cash? Close reading of the 500-page EU budget proposals reveals a catalogue of waste. While Whitehall cuts Brussels wants a 4.4 per cent rise in administration finance. MEPs want to increase their budget for entertaining by 85 per cent and to hand a €620,000 subsidy to the firm that arranges their travel and holidays. While we are cutting quangos useless entities such as the European Institute for Gender Equality flourish on a €52 million annual budget. They even want to pour an extra €26million into space research bringing the total investment in outer space to €230 million next year.
The list of fanciful and excessive expenditure runs on and on representing an intolerable bill for any country in recession. Britain is pouring £48million a day into Brussels but what are we getting back? The EU is a subject none of our mainstream politicians want to talk about. The Conservatives say the public has no appetite to re-open the EU question but they are wrong. Times have changed and so have attitudes towards Brussels’ money-grabbing, power-seeking bureaucrats. Both the coalition and Labour before them denied us a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty but the policy of turning a blind eye cannot go on.
The list of fanciful and excessive expenditure runs on and on representing an intolerable bill for any country in recession. Britain is pouring £48million a day into Brussels but what are we getting back? The EU is a subject none of our mainstream politicians want to talk about. The Conservatives say the public has no appetite to re-open the EU question but they are wrong. Times have changed and so have attitudes towards Brussels’ money-grabbing, power-seeking bureaucrats. Both the coalition and Labour before them denied us a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty but the policy of turning a blind eye cannot go on.
This week David Cameron is to attend the European Council Meeting, a perfect opportunity to act. Instead of meekly agreeing to Brussels’ latest demands he can say no. Now is the time to think of British taxpayers who have already been asked to make tremendous sacrifices, not fat-cat Eurocrats wanting our money.
Before the election Mr Cameron talked tough on Europe warning that the “walls of Jericho” would fall as voters called time on the culture of excess and waste. Now he can prove he is as good as his word.
Apologists for this gravy train say a British bid to block the budget will fail without the support of France and Germany but they miss the point. Britain could freeze its contribution to pre-budget levels and defy Brussels to act. Better still Mr Cameron could give the British a chance to voice an opinion by granting a long overdue referendum.
Before the election Mr Cameron promised to put the legislation for a EU referendum to Parliament if there was a petition backed by a million or more electors.The petition now exists and people can sign it via the internet. MrCameron may have trouble honouring his pledge now he is partnering the Euro-fanatical Lib Dems but a demand by a million voters for the right to decide on Europe would be impossible to ignore.
The present Government has had to make tough decisions which will hurt ordinary families already struggling to keep afloat. It is completely unacceptable to further burden these individuals with taxes to fund what amounts to nothing more than a broken dream.
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