50 Reasons to Love & Hate the EU

As Tony Blair goes to Berlin this weekend to sign away even more of our sovereignty to celebrate 50 years of the EU, Trixy comes up with 50 reasons why the EU has been a bad thing HERE. She responds to the Independent's 50 reasons to love the EU HERE. I'll leave you to judge which list I most agreed with...

Donal Blaney has critiqued the Independent's list HERE.

UPDATE: An Englishman's Castle is creating a 50 Reasons to Love America list HERE but needs your help.

UPDATE: Someone has suggested I should start a 50 Reasons to Love France list. I think they may have been joking!

Steve Norris: 'Let's Get Out of the EU'

Steven Norris tonight backed Britain formally withdrawing from Europe. The former Government minister and mayoral candidate told me on 18 Doughty Street’s Live at Nine programme that Britain “just doesn’t belong in the same institutions” as other European countries.

Norris had said earlier in the programme that he would back the Conservative under David Cameron if they made a decision to withdraw from the EU. He also signalled his intention to stand against Ken Livingstone for a third time in the 2008 London Mayoral Elections.

On Europe, Norris said...
“The institution of the European Union which I think is corrupted and corrupting and largely redundant…if it were put to me that it were practicable the intention of Cameron’s Conservative party to withdraw ourselves formally from the European Union that wouldn’t cause me a single moment’s distress.

‘I would say…we have a completely different tradition in terms of democracy, in terms of institutions, in terms of economy, in terms of our use of English language, our transatlantic connections…We just don’t belong in the same institutions…We want a relationship that is constructive in Europe and will continue to be, you need us, we need you, but what we don’t need is the institution of the European Union of which I’m profoundly suspicious.

Most of the interview was spent on the London mayoral race and transport issues. Watch the programme and you won't be left in any doubt that Steve will run for the Tory nomination and a good thing too. He told me he would scrap the congestion charge zone altogether, scrap bendy buses, reinstate Routemaster buses, tax company car parking spaces, ban goods vehicles from the streets at peak times and much more besides. It really is worth listening to. His enthusiasm is infectious. He finishes by saying: "If I run, I'll win".

The hour long programme can be seen in full HERE.