Dear Editor,
Deborah Orr's rambling article (24th October) repeatedly took
ill-informed prejudice as fact.
She says "MEPs don't have much power to intervene in our lives", yet the bulk of our environmental legislation, consumer protection laws,
competition rules and many of our health and safety standards and
employment law are decided by the European Parliament. Despite this,
she portrays the single European market as an unregulated free-for-all.
She says she doesn't know who her MEP is - presumably oblivious to the
fact that she has several to choose from - MEPs being elected by
proportional representation in multi-member constituencies.
Yes, the European Union can be boring as it can be complex. But it is
indispensable for Britain to work with its neighbouring countries to
jointly solve our common problems, to address issues like climate change
about which no country can do much on their own and to set common rules
for the common market. If the reforms contained in the new treaty
enable the EU to work better and to be more accountable, then so much
the better. Up to now, no one has proposed a better set of reforms.
Yours,
Richard Corbett
Labour MEP for Yorkshire & Humber
Blenheim Terrace, Leeds
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