Blame the EU !

I know there is a tendency to blame the EU for all this country's woes but when you start to look at various problems in detail, one finds that this is not just rhetoric but there that are very strong arguments that most of these problems originate from the EU.

Consider the floods in Somerset, for example. These areas were first drained starting back in the 1700's and have generally remained free of flooding with the dykes being properly maintained and improved over the years, and although the rains this year have been exceptional, there would have been unlikely to have been such widespread floods if such maintenance had continued.

But, as Christopher Booker explains in today's Sunday Telegraph, the EU has issued directives which actually require certain plains to become flooded as part of their quest for bio-diversity. The Environment Agency went along with this directive, without actually telling anyone, simply by giving up the maintenance of the dykes and the dredging of the rivers. Not only that, but the EU banned the use of any silt dredged from the rivers to raise the level of the land as in the past.

This is just one example of how the EU contributes to our problems. The EU's transport experts want high speed rail travel between all major cities, whether it would be used or not, hence the HS2 rail link which by no stretch of the imagination will be cost effective, and is unlikely ever to bring in enough revenue to repay the debts. There are arguments that by the time it is built, we will be in an era of driverless cars and that we should be improving our roads to cope with future technology rather than looking to the past. The editorial in today's Sunday Telegraph on this subject is worth reading.

Our likely problems with electricity shortages within the next year or so are due to EU directives on coal-fired power stations. We have had to close down perfectly good power stations which were far from the end of their life, because of the Greens' desire to cut carbon emissions. Strange, but Germany which has given up the idea of nuclear power, seems to have managed to get round the directives and is now building coal-fired power stations.

Excessive emigration and the loss of control of our borders is exacerbated by the EU "Free Movement" directives; not only that, they tell us we must pay benefits to any EU citizens in the UK and have recently stated that our benefits are too low! We are now reaching the stage where the majority of crime in London is being committed by foreigners and they represent a large, disproportionate number of those in prison. We can't deport them, because of their "Human Rights", another piece of legislation which can be laid at the EU's doorstep.

Even the NHS has problems as a result of the working hours directive which has reduced the number of doctors available in hospitals. It is suggested that the rise of hospital acquired infections is a result of the abandonment of the old-fashioned hospital laundries where all the linen was boiled to sterilise it, in favour of low energy, low temperature washing using modern detergents. This may produce "clean looking" linen, but is it totally germ free? Are our illnesses actually increasing as a result of this EU "green" policy?

As I read the news from day to day, and think about the difficulties that this country is facing, it is hard to find any significant problems in this country that can't in some way be traced back to Brussels.

And people ask why I support UKIP !