John Baron

Conservative Party | Billericay and District

Points of View

EU Juggernaut

The EU centralist juggernaut rolls on. Recently, unelected EU officials in the European Court of Justice issued a new ruling which will harm our local health food shops across the constituency and end the rights of local residents to take their vitamins and food supplements of choice.

Under the European Food Supplements Directive, many vitamins currently on sale in health shops in the constituency risk being banned – examples being 1gm Vitamin C, which are frequently used in the cold season, and the mineral Boron, which is for strong bones and health. In total, 5,000 products will potentially be banned from local stores.

The Directive is primarily for reasons of harmonisation rather than safety – for no evidence whatsoever has been produced to show such vitamins cause harm. It is therefore no surprise that, in response to a legal challenge, the European Court of Justice on 12 July upheld the EU Directive. This ruling by these unelected bureaucrats is a real blow to all those people who regularly and safely use food supplements and vitamins.

My Conservative colleagues and I, in conjunction with local health stores and public figures such as Jenny Seagrove and Carole Caplin, have campaigned against these new regulations both inside and outside Parliament, and will continue to do so.

By contrast, the Government has supported the EU agenda. In 2002, it signed up to the Directive, and since then has failed to lobby the European Union effectively to secure a British opt out from this unnecessary red tape.

This European Directive is yet another example of needless interference in our everyday lives. The Constitution may have been stalled but, have no doubt, the faceless EU bureaucrats are still working away at their centralist agenda.

The CPMT

Over the summer, I joined other guests for the Cleanaway Pitsea Marshes Trust (CPMT) Annual Review, which was held at Beauchamps School, Wickford. As many readers will know, the CPMT does a marvellous job in providing generous funding for worthwhile projects right across Basildon District.

An example is the funding given to Langdon Hills Methodist Church to help pay for the provision of much-needed disabled facilities and other improvement works, which will be of great benefit to the community as a whole. Whilst attending the review, it was therefore a pleasure to present a completion plaque to Wendy Craden, who as project manager had overseen the work.