As a Euro-sceptic who like many others wonders; what are the true benefits of our relationship with the European Union. I decided to set about looking into two key areas and how it effects us locally. For too long the arguments have been focused predominately about sovereignty, which is all well and good and one that I support being a proud Brit, but we never really get to the bottom of how polices truly effect us locally. A fellow colleague of mine MP Chris Heaton Harris co-founded the Fresh Start Project which lays bare some facts about the European Union as described below;
NHS
‘The EU is not supposed to have competence over National Healthcare systems. Yet, in the UK, the seeping effects of EU directives are devastating doctor's training and patients' safety day by day. The Working Time Directive, and in particular the European Court of Justice rulings in SiMAP and Jaeger, has had a negative impact on junior doctor training, the continuity of patient care, waiting lists, NHS finances and doctors themselves (for example through inappropriate working practices and fatigue). It has also been cited by Coroners as contributing to patient deaths. Separately, the EU's Directive on Professional Qualifications, has led to doctors with insufficient language skills being able to practice in the UK, and in turn to a number of serious instances of harm to patients’.
Policing
‘The UK Government must decide during this Parliament whether to repatriate 130 EU crime and policing laws or whether to transfer full control over these laws to EU judges for the first time. It is a clear choice between more or less EU control over the British justice system – a choice between repatriation or more Europe. Owing to a constitutional quirk in the Lisbon Treaty, the UK has the option of using a ‘block opt-out’ to repatriate EU crime and policing laws adopted before the Lisbon Treaty came into force. If the UK does not opt out, it must accept the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) full powers of jurisdiction over these laws from December 2014. This would, for example, give EU judges the final say over the mechanisms for extraditing British citizens to other member states, on the basis of a case brought against the UK by the European Commission’.
I truly believe that we should not cede more powers over to the EU but we should in fact be minimising their authority. This is why I fully support Conservatives led by the prime Minister David Cameron in offering the British people a referendum. If you too support having a referendum please visit; www.letbritaindecide.com
and for further information about the Fresh Start Project; www.eufreshstart.org
