WHEN Labour ministers gave away £7 billion of Britain's EU rebate in 2005 they said it was a necessary price to pay for a commitment to reform the Common Agricultural Policy in 2008. However, anybody who followed the CAP reform debate last year will know we had very little to show for our money.
Ministerial involvement in the reform discussions was lacklustre at best.
Our government even failed to send a minister to the EU meeting where the direction of the reform was decided. Worse still, the extra £7 billion that Labour agreed to hand over was not spread equally over the seven year EU budget.
A disproportionate amount of the extra payments will have to be made between now and 2013.
So we have another example of how Labour has recklessly engaged in 'buy now, pay later' tactics which are hitting our economy just at a time when we can least afford it.
How much longer can Britain afford Labour?
Giles Chichester MEP, Conservative MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar.
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