European Union
Again we see letters in the Bury Free Press (Ian Smith BFP 3rd April) suggesting the EU is some sort of country that has extra-ordinary powers over the UK.
Britain has just hosted the successful G20 Summit. Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland & Italy were all present represent the interests of their countries. The fact that the president of the European Commission was there did not stop Britain and other European countries being present representing our interests. Also present was the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, the Financial Stability Forum, the World Trade Organisation, the UN Secretary General was present. All are organisations that the UK has signed up for; British taxpayers help pay for; and they set rules of the game for international trade and finance.
But UKIP are not calling for withdrawal from these? Why not? After all pulling out would save money? Do they want us to save money by pulling out of NATO? How can an 'independant' Britain be independant when we rely for our defence on others? Pulling out of NATO and being self reliant on defence would either leave us without defences, or with a mountain of a Defence Bill for taxpayers!
Where, why and when will UKIP stop withdrawing Britain from the rest of the World.
Should we pull out of the World Health Organisation? Withdraw from the Kyoto Treaty? The International Court? They all cost British taxpayers money.
The fact is that decisions should be made at the most appropriate level, and I believe they should be made as close as possible to the people most affected by those decisions. Our Parishes and the Town Council are best placed to make the decisions appropriate to our villages and towns, but each Parish cannot have a hospital. The finances would not work, so we pass that up to a higher tier of local government. Suffolk cannot set standards for construction just for Suffolk, so we have British Standards set for the whole country. In the same way if we want to export and import from the rest of the World we need to reach agreements with the rest of the world. Even as the 4th wealthiest country in the world when it comes to international standards and trade agreements we have seen time and time again that we do not have the economic muscle to protect our own interests. So we negotiated the Maastricht and Nice Treaties and other Treaties to put together an organisation to defend our economic and environmental interests and we called it the European Union. It is not a country any more than the IMF, or the United Nations is.
We should not pull out of it, just as we should not pull out of NATO or the UN, but we do need to reform the EU just as the NATO and the UN need reform. When? As soon as the Lisbon Treaty comes into force powers will be transferred back to Britain, and the regions of Britain; and Brussels will be more democratic and accountable.