MY colleague Diana Wallace is of course right in pointing out that the European Union is meeting much of the compensation costs incurred during the current foot and mouth crisis. However, Ms Wallace omits to mention that three-quarters of the money that we receive from the European Union will then be deducted from our national rebate.
The knock-on effect of this is that the European Union contribution is rather less than Ms Wallace suggests. Of course the EU's contribution is still good news but we should be under no illusion about the origin of the money in the first place - most of it is British and German taxpayers' money.
For those who agree with Diana Wallace that European funding is 'good for us' I presume those same people would also be happy to send me a cheque for £10 on the condition that I send you a £5 note by return of post!
Robert Goodwill MEP,
Yorkshire & The Humber,
Conservative,
Terrington, York.
Updated: 09:59 Saturday, August 18, 2001
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