Response To Simon Heffer. Article Below!

'I'm surprised Simon Heffer does not mention the part the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays in the French economic situation. Very simply, the CAP allows the French to pay off their farmers, one of the country's most vociferous and violent interest groups with cash from the taxpyers of other countries. The French argue that Europe must support their farmers because their standard of living is essential to the culture of the entire continent !! Today, the CAP accounts for 40% of the total annual EU budget. France takes 25% of this budget which since 1994 amounts to some €99.2 billion. France resists vigorously any attempt at reform. When the UK proposed reform of the CAP in 2005, Chirac responded by demanding a reduction in the UK's rebate. The issue however, is about far more than a nice little bribe to a sector of the electorate the French government wants to keep sweet. It inflates European food prices meaning that in the UK a family of four pays additional £1,500 on food bills.

- Getting angrier by the day, West Midlands, 15/9/2011 09:51.

And you wonder why I joined UKIP?