EU billions: Spend the money at home
SIR - On December 2, MEPs will vote on the European Union's working time directive opt-out from the maximum 48 hours per week. At present Great Britain uses the opt-out to give nearly 3 million workers the flexibility of working longer hours. As a contra
SIR - On December 2, MEPs will vote on the European Union's working time directive opt-out from the maximum 48 hours per week. At present Great Britain uses the opt-out to give nearly 3 million workers the flexibility of working longer hours. As a contra
SIR - On December 2, MEPs will vote on the European Union's working time directive opt-out from the maximum 48 hours per week. At present Great Britain uses the opt-out to give nearly 3 million workers the flexibility of working longer hours.As a contractor, I have to work long hours to finish contracts on time to suit the customers' requirements. This is the norm in our industry and also applies to many other occupations.I find I do not need EU directives telling me what I must and must not do, and I certainly do not need Labour MEPs, who are totally out of touch with reality in their cocooned Brussels world, dictating to me and my co-workers what we do and don't do.Using health and safety as one of their weapons is a pretty poor excuse, as I have health and safety to put up with every one of my working days. It is a very important part of our working patterns.Unfortunately I do not have the privilege of an over-inflated MEP's salary and extremely generous expense account for pursuing the ultimate goal of an EU federal superstate but, as the saying goes "the devil looks after his own".This government's partial exemption from the EU working time directive is estimated to be worth about £9 billion a year. In a recession the common sense approach is to try to keep as many people in work as possible.By withdrawing from the European Union, which is estimated to cost the UK taxpayer in excess of £50 billion a year, this money could be better spent on rebuilding this country's once world respected industries, creating more employment for our people. Therefore gaining respect from a policy of free trade on a worldwide stage, instead of being held in an EU straitjacket.But what do I know about these things? I am only one of millions of hard working taxpayers who are not being listened to, and who firmly believe that we should be an independent island sovereign nation, sorting out our own affairs and being in charge of our own destiny. Bob Gotts (via email).