ONCE again our lords and masters in Brussels have decreed that all members of the European Union must obey their latest idiocy.

And, lemming-like, the British Government immediately brings out legislation to enforce it rather than raising a metaphorical second finger right hand skyward, and advising the mandarins in Brussels to "rotate!"

To what do I refer?

The ban on certain vitamin and herbal supplements which have been taken by generations of Britons rarely with any ill-effect (July 14).

On the contrary, many natural substances are better than man-made drugs for some people.

Why does the United Kingdom unfailingly obey these utterances without thinking the whole thing through? Two EU directives typical of this blind obedience spring to mind.

Several years ago the EU decided all refrigerated cabinets in shops had to operate between 2C and 4C, to cut down on the spoilage of perishables and reduce the danger of unfit produce being sold to the public.

British shopkeepers were told if their existing displays did not meet these criteria, they must be replaced immediately, or cease trading.

Somehow, I couldn't quite see our Spanish, French and Italian shopkeepers obeying with the alacrity the British had to.

The second debacle was when the EU decided that all domestic fridges being scrapped had to have the miniscule amount of R12 refrigerant recovered from inside, rather than allowing it to escape and possibly damage to the ozone layer.

Result? Instant legislation from the Government saying all domestic refrigerators had to be treated this way.

Because there was no plant in the UK which could do this, huge mountains of refrigerators built-up around the country waiting to be sent to Germany.

Now we have the supplement industry plunged into meltdown by our Government's blind adherence to anything the EU decides.

Philip Roe,

Roman Avenue South,

Stamford Bridge,

York.

Updated: 09:33 Wednesday, July 20, 2005