Isn’t strange how British right-wing politicians feel so constrained by the EU? I’m in Germany at the moment and it strikes me that the UK has more rules on some issue than on the continent. Since we are in the same EU then it must be because we constrain ourselves by choice. From time to time that’s fine. Take for example the subject of cigarette advertising. Seeing billboards with people smoking just seems so 1970s. Yet, that is how it is in Germany. The pesky EU doesn’t seem to be cracking down. There are other example of health and safety which seem way over the top in the UK but nonexistent in Germany. Could it be that people are blaming the EU for the wrong things? Could it be that our litigious culture in the UK is the source of the constraints? Naturally this is more complex because there are just as many lawyers making a good living in Germany as there are in the UK. Perhaps they are focused on different issues. That’s a good sign because it means that diversity thrives in the EU.
John Vincent 