What Has Brussels Ever Done for Us?
Posted by jonathanfryer on Monday, 16th February, 2009
Yesterday afternoon I was out surveying in Bethnal Green with Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats, finding out which issues are of major concern to residents. As anyone who takes part in such activities knows, even at a time of economic recesssion, it’s often very local matters like rubbish collection or anti-social behaviour that bother people most. As one of the ward members (and Council group leader), Councillor Stephanie Eaton, was with me and the rest of the team, those were amongst the things she could follow up.
As a European candidate out on the doorstep, though, I often get asked, in an echo of the famous line about the Romans from The Life of Brian, ‘What has Brussels ever done for us?’ In the case of Tower Hamlets, for one, I can truthfully reply: ‘A lot!’ Between 2000 and 2006, the borough received 17 grants totaling millions of pounds from the European Social Fund (for projects as varied as Bridging the Digital Divide, Leaside Regeneration and the Creative Entrepreneurs’ Training Partnership), and even more from the European Regional Development Fund (for the Spitalfields Small Business Association, The Environment Trust, Tower Hamlets College and others). As one of London’s poorest boroughs, Tower Hamlets has rightly received more than most areas of the capital, of course, but an enquiry to the local Council (preferably by a councillor) will elicit details of European funding in your area. Few Councils (in London, at least) actually publicise this funding adequately, so it is not surprising most people are unaware of it.
Since the ‘big bang’ enlargement of the European Union, to take in 10 mainly poorer member states from central, eastern and southern Europe, the European funding structure has changed and less money is available for more affluent countries like Britain. But one of the things I’ll be doing in the run-up to the Euro-elections is monitoring what funds are coming into London from Brussels and letting people know (as the Labour government singularly fails to do so sufficiently).
Kevin Pritchard said
Hello
Read your blog interesting stuff – especially about the funding to Tower Hamlest. One question I can never get an answer to is where does the money go that has been earmarked for projects? Several years ago the leader of the council announced widely in the loal press that such funding had been released for level crossings across the A12 at Bromley by Bow and Lochnagar Street accompanied by closure of the dreaded underpasses. Work was scheduled to start six months later.
Never happened
Leaside Regeneration, you refer to in your blog, advertise the work as sponsors on their web site. The link page has bee permanently off line for several years and they do not respond to emails about the lack of progress.
So ask not what has Europe ever done for us – ask what has Leaside Regeneration done with the funds!
There have been several attacks in the underpasses since then and the work still waits to start.
I have asked Jim Fitzpatrick,who announced the work in the Hansard and he does not seem to have a reply button on his email either!!!
It was ever so in the land of self delusion called politics.
Be good now ad enjoy the gravy train
Hywel said
This is a meaningless claim Jonathan. Any grants that the EU makes can only come from the money it gets from the national governments. Unless your arguing that the UK gets back more in grants than it puts in then using EU grants as a “thing the EU has done for us” is meaningless. More grants could be made if we weren’t contributing to the EU.
I’m not going off on some UKIP style rant because the EU grants system does produce benefits in the form of greater prosperity across a single market leading to to a leveling of the playing field for jobs and greater markets.
Des said
What has Brussels done for us? Nada! Nought!
It’s taken away our freedom, our parliament, our right to govern ourseves as an independant nation, it’s destroying our culture, it’s allowing millions of non-British to settle here, it is destroyng the nation state throughout Europe, it is dictating how and what we reach our children, it is run by an unelected commision where the likes of Mandelson rule over us.
What will it do for you,Jonathon? That is what we should be asking. You knowthe answer to that one!
A huge salary and the same again expenses and a wonderful pension for the rest of your life!
Welcome to the gravy train and say hello to fellow traveller Liz Lynne who has done so nicely out of this scam. Handed a safe seat in Brussels as a reward for losing a safe LIB/Dem seat in Rochdale.
None of you are to be trusted.
jonathanfryer said
Des — thanks for your brilliant example of an anti-European rant that neatly avoids letting facts get in the way of blind prejudice.
Hywel said
Fair enough dismissl of Des who was making a pretty silly point.
However you didn’t address my point which is in substance, how can we claim EU grant funding of schemes as “something the EU has done for us” when our contributions to the EU are greater than the amount we get back in grants?
That just opens us right up to the counter-argument that “if only we left the EU we’d have more money to spend on things like this”