YP Letters: We must never bend the knee to EU rules on our bananas

From: Gordon Lawrence, Sheffield.
A copy of the Bill to trigger article 50, in front of the Houses of the Parliament in London. (PA).A copy of the Bill to trigger article 50, in front of the Houses of the Parliament in London. (PA).
A copy of the Bill to trigger article 50, in front of the Houses of the Parliament in London. (PA).

It is not unusual to see such a successful businessman, as Lord Haskins who is now ensconced comfortably within the corporate hierarchy, to be so committed to the Remain lobby. But it is rare for such a prominent business personage to be an ardent devotee of EU regulation. The surprise disappears however when his CV is looked into.

He has been involved with a number of quangos and other committees for years including the Britain in Europe campaign and Chairman of the European Movement. A past member of the Labour Party, he is now in harmony with the likes of Heseltine, Patten, Major and Clarke on the Brexit counterfight.

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I’m afraid Lord Haskins, in a recent Yorkshire Post article, is clutching at straws to blame the lack of adhering to EU regulation for the Grenfell fire disaster. It is not false but a fly in his whole thesis.

EU regulation No 2257/94, contrary to Haskins’ claim to dismiss it as a myth, did refer to “abnormal curvature” of bananas and cucumbers, which was subsequently abandoned owing to the ridicule and outcry generated in the popular media. What were they doing, in the first place, intervening in innocent green groceries? Systemic power that they, the Eurocrats, hold is almost invariably exercised to excess.

The diesel fiasco is an outstanding example of egregious regulation. The Labour government’s obsession with reducing CO2 climate change resulted in the incentive for the public to buy diesel vehicles via tax inducement. Pollution from such vehicles is now recognised as a serious threat to human health. Lord Haskins underestimates the harm that overzealous bureaucracy can generate.

On a general level, EU bureaucracy, epitomised by the deluge of regulation, has encumbered the 28 states with wealth-destroying legislation, which has hindered growth and inhibited Europe’s ability to keep up with rival economic nations and blocs that do not suffer from such prolific interventionist activity.

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Regulation on the scale that the EU exercises destroys enterprise and innovation in spite of Lord Haskins’ attempts to justify it.

From: Nick Martinek, Briarlyn Road, Huddersfield.

Are the people who tell us that leaving the EU is so complex that we must spend a decade doing so, the same people who told us that the EU doesn’t rule over us?