I don't know where our future lies. I'm just saying that EC is in a mess in terms of where it is going, so we should stand back and keep our options open. It worked when it was small. I think it has a finite possible size. It's like big business. The bigger you get, the more central control you need in order to manage it properly, and the more remote it gets from its individual units and employees, or electors, and the less sense of belonging you get. It's daft. Like the rolling presidency. What the hell does president mean? How many presidents pay any attention to it? Theyve all got other jobs which are more important to them. Nobody knows who their MEPs are or what they do. They just think theyre overpaid bloated beurocrats, which may or may not be true. sod the french. they look after their own interests and only that. but as for the CAP, I sctually like it. Not for any economic reason but because it helps preserve the countryside by protecting small farmers' livelihoods in the face of big industry. If you want to keep the countryside looking good and double up as a good place for townies to go to relax in addition to being a food source, then you have to make it workable for small farmers. the trouble with thi s government is that it doesn't think like that. to them agriculture is just another industrial activity which needs to be run on strict commercial lines, which in turn means wiping out small farmers and pushing them into bigger units, which again will destroy the landscape as we know it, and much of the wildlife with it. same with fox hunting. I'm one of the very few animal rights enthusiasts and strict vegetarians (one of the reasons I got banned last time) who is actually in favour of fox hunting and hunting/shooting/fishing on the grounds that they are , if properly done (ie not farm-bred sitting duck pheasants etc), a way of ensuring the countryside is viable and ensuring it survives. British politicians scoff at the CAP. But it means you go through france and belgium and they are full of small farmers and high grade local produce, whilst we get crap from tesco that looks good and tastes of cardboard. We're a rich nation. we should pay more attention to quality of life and less to quantity sometimes.

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