Great interview

[pilninggas]

 

Oh, dear what Gove actually said was "We've had enough of the 'experts' ", the political class who think you are better than you or I. Off the top of my head: Blair/Mandelson - The Iraq debacle, Major, privy council enforcer, The Kinnocks £1m/year from the EU (inc expenses), Ken Clarke (The Tobacco barons stooge), the EU benificiaries of our payments. They think they know better than us, but by-and-large they only want to feather their own nests.

Oh no he did not! - Here's the interview;

! No longer available

As for the cost of the EU, 40% is spent on CAP. Measures show it has little or no social benefit.

Indeed.  However, CAP is a little more complex than some would have us believe.  It’s one of the reasons I want us to stay in the EU.  The Rural Development Fund comes under Cap.  We’ve derived huge benefits from that fund in Scotland.  From 1979 onwards we endured 17 years of Tory rule that we did not vote for, if it wasn’t for CAP and the Rural Development fund many of our more remote communities would have perished and died, communities that today with investment are now thriving and contributing to the economy.  So oh yes there is social benefit. 

Stupid practices like once monthly taking the whole parliament to Strasbourg are unjustifiably wasteful, yet one country got it's way and the rest had to fund this ridiculous process (do you like your income tax being spent on that? I bloody don't)

I’ll agree with you there pilninggas, yes it a total waste of money and some of these practises give the EU and air of arrogance which is coming back to bite it now.

Obama, The IMF both backtracked aftwerwards, the others want to deals with us. Gove was bang on about the Eurocrats wanting to play an independent UK down, as a net contributor they were desperate to paint our exit as a doom and gloom story - disgusting behaviour. A degree in PPE does not an expert make and the more of these career-politicos sent to pasture the better.

As for CAP, I totally want to support rural farming/agriculture/fising in this country; CAP isn't the answer. Despite fiddled numbers almost 50% still ends up in french farmers hands (and more often than not French landowners) a total buy-off. I know the unimaginative remainers can't always see it, but rather than paying into a pot that allows french farmers to grow wheat at an utter loss, lay decent land fallow or buy new machinery for bulgarian farmers (i wonder how traceable that is?). Why not instead keep the money and really support rural farmer in Scotland, regain our fisheries for Cornish fishermen and invest in our arable. The whole think stinks and the system isn't working (needs real reform, EU utterly incapable). I'd support the SNP righly claiming subsidies for crofters in those wonderful islands, just as i'd like to see local dairy and orchards here in the West Country subsidised carefully. It really makes me sick to know my taxes got down a bottomless pit that could just allow an investor to buy a meadow and let it lie fallow (real story, 5x better return than doing anything with it).

For me it comes back to a simple fact that the EU is never going to reform, is wasteful and has expanded far too quickly. I don't suppose you and I will ever agree, with is fair enough, I can assure you that I wants best for the UK (all of it), but not Romania or Poland or Portugal (all great countries, but not our responsibility economically or socially).