letter to the editor from Richard Corbett MEP

20 December 2004

Yorkshire Post

Sir,

UKIP's Godfrey Bloom has truly outdone himself with his most recent letter (10 December), which, frankly, left me shaking my head in disbelief.

But there's an old maxim of gentlemanly conduct: 'always try to read your opponent's claims as charitably as possible'. So, instead of complaining about Mr Bloom's apparent disregard for plain, palpable facts, I'll simply express my utter bewilderment.

First up he writes, “The European Parliament creates no laws but simply ratifies law made by the Commission”. But surely he knows that the EU has two legislative bodies, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament? Surely he knows that the Commission has no lawmaking powers whatsoever – all it can do is make proposals? So what on earth can he mean?

He goes on, “Around 95 per cent of laws coming from the Commission go through unamended”. But MEPs go through every single proposed law line by line, debating it, amending it, rewriting it. Mr Bloom's claim that we don't do this is simply absurd. I can't remember a single piece of legislation ever going through Parliament unamended – it just doesn't happen.

Of course, Mr Bloom thinks that our detailed scrutiny committees are a waste of time, and here I disagree most fundamentally. I first stood for election in 1996 because I wanted to try to improve some of the laws which affect our lives. It's this real power to change things for the better that makes my job as an MEP as invigorating and rewarding now as it was eight years ago.

So my advice to Mr Bloom is to please make an effort to turn up in Parliament sometimes, rather than spending “as little time there as is practically possible”. If he had a stab at getting involved, I expect he'd find the work most illuminating. It would certainly do away with some of his more bizarre prejudices. And who knows? He might even enjoy it!

Richard Corbett

Labour MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber