Text of a letter.

This is the text of a letter I have recently sent to a number of newspapers:-


I see that the appalling treatment of Third World countries by the European Union which really took hold with the Consolidated Treaty, just goes from bad to worse.
African nations are being threatened with massive tariff hikes. The solidly pro-EU Guardian points out that trade negotiations are in 'meltdown'.
It is only a couple of years ago that Oxfam slammed the EU as one of the prime offenders for policies which contribute to ever greater Third World poverty.
The EPAs [Economic Partnership Agreements] would "amputate state budgets and ruin African industries by dismantling tariff barriers", said President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, according to the FT.
African Union Commission President Alpha Oumar Konaré accused the EU of "playing divide and rule in Africa" - and some people seem to believe that the EU is a more moral partnership than our relations with the bossy USA. Well, hardly!
Of course, The EU Commission has warned that a rejection of EPAs will mean African countries will face higher tariffs for exports to Africa - a nasty minded threat.
My younger son, who has done aid work in Malawi has been consistently horrified by the detrimental effects of EU policies on that nation.
If some people are sufficiently selfish not to care about these poor, impoverished people, they would do well to look at what the other side of the coin means to their own pockets.
As we are not free to gain best import prices on many products due to our membership of EU, compounded by the absurdities of the Common Agricultural Policy and naked protectionism, we all end up paying inflated amounts on our food bills. Several years ago this was calculated at £20 per week for a family of four - I doubt if it is that low now.
Published in the Scunthorpe Telegraph, at least.