British MEPs fail to block 84 per cent of EU laws
British members of the European parliament failed to block 84 per cent of the legislation they opposed in Europe from entering into EU and UK law, according to a new report.
The news will come as a boost to Nigel Farage’s Ukip, in its bid to win support for a British exit from the EU.
The statistics, from campaign group Business for Britain, reveal that a majority of British MEPs voted against 576 of the 1,936 motions put to the EU parliament last session, but 485 of those were passed anyway.
Campaign director Robert Oxley highlighted Europe’s increasing power and warned: “Reforms are needed to protect member states from the tyranny of a legislature that their elected representatives have no chance of blocking.”
Ukip’s trade spokesman William Dartmouth, himself an MEP, said the report should serve as a wake up call, adding: “There is this mantra that we have to be part of the EU so we can influence legislation. These figures show that thinking to be utterly wrong.”
However pro-EU group Business for New Europe said the UK is a “highly influential” member of the EU and called for reform not exit.