The Daily Express in Scotland today leads with a grumble about the cost of interpreters in the European Parliament.

Now, I don’t expect much from the Express, and certainly not anything even vaguely pro-European, but this particular article was one of those that leaves you shaking your head.

They suggest the Parliament should abandon all but four or five languages to save tax-payers money. Good grief, imagine the headlines if the Parliament did suggest jettisoning a few languages, especially English.

The Express would be up in arms. You wouldn’t be able to nip into your local newsagents for all the blazing headlines about “Evil EU outlaws English”, “Unelected totalitarian bureaucrats annihilate our beautiful language” and “Diana death linked to EU’s ban on English”.

Many MEPs are capable of speaking English, French, Spanish or German but this is simply not the point. The European Parliament is democratic and as such, citizens should be able to vote for people who reflect their views, irrespective of the linguistic abilities of the candidates. They should also be able to follow the debates, if they so wish, in a language they understand. It may be a (relatively)costly procedure but the interpreters are indispensable for communication and democracy.

Right-wing papers like the Express often (wrongly) accuse the EU of being undemocratic and elitist. If speaking a foreign language to a level of making public speeches and conducting legal arguments in that language were to be a prerequisite of becoming an MEP then Parliament would become exactly what these papers rally against.