Daniel Hannan: Amputation is Now the Only Way to Save Ourselves

Daniel Hannan - MEP for South East England, EU Parliament - October 13th 2011.

Transcript:

Thank you madam deputy speaker. We had yesterday the published reform of the common agriculture policy. Spending on the CAP is not going to be cut in absolute terms, and in proportionate terms it's going to have a massive cut from 40% of the budget to 38 point something.

My point is not to rehearse all of the manifold failings of that system, the wants and damage it does to developing countries, in Africa in particular, the ecological cataclysm that it caused Europe with the failing of hedgerows, the encouraging of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, or indeed the way in which it penalizes the poor, both through their taxes and through higher prices. My point is that such a system has shown itself to be incapable of reform. We delude ourselves when we think that we can get in and argue our case and be reasonable and change these bureaucracies and these mechanisms into something different from what they were set up to be.

We've reached the point where there is no point in persuading ourselves that we need more treatment, more antibiotics, we have to face the reality that amputation is now the only way to save ourselves.

video source: DanHannanMEP YouTube channel