ONCE more, the very real issues under debate in the European Parliament have been misrepresented to serve the purposes of Euroscepticism. So we see reports that the EU is to ban the sale of eggs by the dozen, fuelled by a dose of outrage from Conservative politicians.

It is a re-run of Tory fury at an apparent recent EU proposal to rename the English Channel “Le Pond”. Both are untrue.

The legislation in question is the draft EU regulation on food labelling, which all mainstream British parties supported in a vote in Strasbourg two weeks ago.

The legislation will ensure consumers have clear nutritional labelling. Crucially, it ensures British meat is truthfully labelled as such – a key issue for British farmers.

There is nothing in the draft regulation which would prevent food being labelled by number.

We can all rest assured that eggs can still be sold by the dozen, both in the UK and indeed everywhere else in the European Union. With deep cuts being made to our public services, our police forces, welfare budgets, capital projects and the scrapping of Yorkshire Forward, there are surely more pressing issues for the new Government than fighting phoney wars in Europe. Linda McAvan, Labour MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.