Why should Brussels dictate to me what type of vacuum cleaner or hair dryer I should buy? Imagine the outcry if they decided to limit the size of a car's engine and said you can't buy a 2 litre engine you can only buy a 1.2 litre engine.
You presumably wear a seat belt ? Why should you ? Because it's good for you. In another way legislating that appliances work as efficiently as they can in terms of energy use is the same. It's good for you and me and our children and everyone wins. As for bent bananas. The bastards.
If it takes twice as long to dry my hair or vacuum my floor it's not very helpful for me.
This may be a trivial example of EU bureaucracy but is symptomatic of all that many dislike about the EU.
I voted to join the Common Market, as it was known then, because I believed it was good for Britain's trade; the monster we now belong to is nothing like the trading group we joined originally.
There won't be any loss of performance just better machines. As I posted above Dyson have never manufactured a vacuum cleaner that would fail the new regs and my Dyson would suck the skin off a straight banana.
The purpose of the regulations is to stop manufacturers using cheaply made inefficient motors using unnecessary amounts of electricity.
Why should Brussels dictate to me what type of vacuum cleaner or hair dryer I should buy? Imagine the outcry if they decided to limit the size of a car's engine and said you can't buy a 2 litre engine you can only buy a 1.2 litre engine.
You presumably wear a seat belt ? Why should you ? Because it's good for you. In another way legislating that appliances work as efficiently as they can in terms of energy use is the same. It's good for you and me and our children and everyone wins. As for bent bananas. The bastards.
If it takes twice as long to dry my hair or vacuum my floor it's not very helpful for me.
This may be a trivial example of EU bureaucracy but is symptomatic of all that many dislike about the EU.
I voted to join the Common Market, as it was known then, because I believed it was good for Britain's trade; the monster we now belong to is nothing like the trading group we joined originally.
As with the light bulbs it's a fact that manufacturers were not going to develop better quality, energy efficient products unless there was a market for it and the legislation ensures this is created. TBH I hated those bloody bulbs as much as anyone but my perception is they are getting better and relatively cheaper with time and I would expect the same with other products as we've seen also with fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, etc. With no EU legislation on energy labelling none of these types of products would be as efficient as they are now as there was no incentive to do so.
Why should Brussels dictate to me what type of vacuum cleaner or hair dryer I should buy? Imagine the outcry if they decided to limit the size of a car's engine and said you can't buy a 2 litre engine you can only buy a 1.2 litre engine.
You presumably wear a seat belt ? Why should you ? Because it's good for you. In another way legislating that appliances work as efficiently as they can in terms of energy use is the same. It's good for you and me and our children and everyone wins. As for bent bananas. The bastards.
If it takes twice as long to dry my hair or vacuum my floor it's not very helpful for me.
This may be a trivial example of EU bureaucracy but is symptomatic of all that many dislike about the EU.
I voted to join the Common Market, as it was known then, because I believed it was good for Britain's trade; the monster we now belong to is nothing like the trading group we joined originally.
As with the light bulbs it's a fact that manufacturers were not going to develop better quality, energy efficient products unless there was a market for it and the legislation ensures this is created. TBH I hated those bloody bulbs as much as anyone but my perception is they are getting better and relatively cheaper with time and I would expect the same with other products as we've seen also with fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, etc. With no EU legislation on energy labelling none of these types of products would be as efficient as they are now as there was no incentive to do so.
Except that all the new EU friendly light bulbs are much more hazardous as waste products and so what has been achieved? As per normal, nothing of any importance.
I used to love popping to my local green grocer and buying 2lb of potatoes and 1lb of carrots now I have order in bloody kilos to please Brussels.
TBH this is something that pissed me off when it came in, not for veg, as I had a feel for that (and it's rough and ready). What pissed me off most was the cheese - I had no idea of how much it was in kg as opposed to lbs and was fairly sure I was being diddled. It's also the choice of shops - they can quite easily show both prices (some do).
But of course these days, it's rare to find a greengrocer, so you'll be buying your veg in whatever sizes the shops supply them in.
it ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that drinking water prevented dehydration.
The EU now prohibits manufacturers of bottled drinking water to label their product with anything that would suggest consumption would fight dehydration.
Diabetics to face driving bans
The having to click acceptance of cookies on nearly every bloody website I use for the first time.
Having to price everything up in metric. Surprised they have not decimalised time yet.
They are trying to ban bowls of olive oil in restaurants with your bread etc. only sealed bottles with a label to be given to customers.
not exactly. the directive said that the highest quality should meet certain standards, including the shape. you could still sell misshapen fruit so long as it wasn't advertised as top quality. eu ditched this one when they realised shops were throwing away lots of food in an attempt to provide conformity to the consumer.
it ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that drinking water prevented dehydration.
The EU now prohibits manufacturers of bottled drinking water to label their product with anything that would suggest consumption would fight dehydration.
the eu have said that water does not prevent dehydration and they are correct. it was a vexatious request by two anti-eu professors that led to this.specifically they asked the following to be tested: "The regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration and of concomitant decrease of performance" something of a pointless test really. water , in itself, does not prevent dehydration. you could, for example, decide to walk across a desert drinking a bottle of water and still end dehydrated. dehydration is different to being thirsty. in hospital you will be given a saline solution if you are dehydrated because your body will start a chemical reaction which changes and removes the salts. water alone will not stop this.
Diabetics to face driving bans
not true. diabetics on insulin are now subject to more detailed checking of their condition, but they are not banned from driving
The having to click acceptance of cookies on nearly every bloody website I use for the first time.
annoying, but has come about due to the malicious use of cookies by some people. many people are not aware that stuff is being put onto your computer by a third party when you open a web site. doing this will encourage developers to look for better ways of achieving same goal as cookies without the security risk
Having to price everything up in metric. Surprised they have not decimalised time yet.
things move on. we no longer use pounds shillings and pence. nor chains, bolts and rods. decimalisation started in the late 60's. it actually makes the world easier to live in in a global age
They are trying to ban bowls of olive oil in restaurants with your bread etc. only sealed bottles with a label to be given to customers.
this was a suggestion, and a silly one at that. surprising that legislators sometimes come up with daft ideas. anyway, it was dropped 6 days after the proposal as they realised they got it very wrong. arguably that is good practice. i would rather people admit when things go wrong than just continue regardless
beyond all of these, the eu is carrying out a major review of all directives to make sure they are fit for purpose, and try to reduce bureaucracy.
Quite fun seeing what the case for the defence comes up with each time their claims are debunked anew. I reckon next up will be a super secret flat European stealth tax, or maybe the threat of Ebola #greenandpleasantland
But the fact is these directives were made in the first place. I just googled silly eu directives.
As I said earlier, people signed up for a common market, not all the additional powers and if it reverted to a free trading agreement most people would be happy.
Quite fun seeing what the case for the defence comes up with each time their claims are debunked anew. I reckon next up will be a super secret flat European stealth tax, or maybe the threat of Ebola #greenandpleasantland
How many UKIPers of a certain age voted for Michael Foot's Labour Party rather than Margaret Thatcher in 1983 ? Nigel Farage certainly didn't as he would have been a teenage Thatcherite in his first election as a voter.
This was the last time that a referendum on Common Market / European Union membership was offered to the British people by one of the main political parties in its manifesto .
Why should Brussels dictate to me what type of vacuum cleaner or hair dryer I should buy? Imagine the outcry if they decided to limit the size of a car's engine and said you can't buy a 2 litre engine you can only buy a 1.2 litre engine.
You presumably wear a seat belt ? Why should you ? Because it's good for you. In another way legislating that appliances work as efficiently as they can in terms of energy use is the same. It's good for you and me and our children and everyone wins. As for bent bananas. The bastards.
If it takes twice as long to dry my hair or vacuum my floor it's not very helpful for me.
This may be a trivial example of EU bureaucracy but is symptomatic of all that many dislike about the EU.
I voted to join the Common Market, as it was known then, because I believed it was good for Britain's trade; the monster we now belong to is nothing like the trading group we joined originally.
As with the light bulbs it's a fact that manufacturers were not going to develop better quality, energy efficient products unless there was a market for it and the legislation ensures this is created. TBH I hated those bloody bulbs as much as anyone but my perception is they are getting better and relatively cheaper with time and I would expect the same with other products as we've seen also with fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, etc. With no EU legislation on energy labelling none of these types of products would be as efficient as they are now as there was no incentive to do so.
Except that all the new EU friendly light bulbs are much more hazardous as waste products and so what has been achieved? As per normal, nothing of any importance.
But the fact is these directives were made in the first place. I just googled silly eu directives.
As I said earlier, people signed up for a common market, not all the additional powers and if it reverted to a free trading agreement most people would be happy.
If I buy a kettle from any reputable outlet here in Prague, it comes with a two year guarantee. No ifs, no buts. Before this country joined the EU that was not the case. This country follows the EU directive on consumer rights.
I've just looked up the Currys website. It actually isn't that easy to find out what their guarantee policy is. But finally I tracked it down. It says:
"Your manufacturer’s product guarantee provides cover for mechanical and electrical breakdown but will be limited to a year and may not cover parts or breakdown through mishap."
So I've got a couple of questions to ask you
1. Do you think this particular directive is "silly"? If so, why?
2. Even if you think this is "silly", how come UK businesses are able to flout it, whereas according to what you have read and believe, they have without a word of protest implemented a load of directives which are obviously silly?
3.If you read all you posted above in a newspaper, but didn't read anything in the same newspaper about the guarantees, isn't the problem your newspaper rather than the EC?
You do realise that having a 2 year guarantee on a kettle makes that kettle more expensive don't you? How about letting consumers decide how much they want to pay for teh benefit of a guarantee?
Goods from John Lewis are more expensive than most but they do very well because they give out a 5 year guarantee on many of their products. When I buy a cheap product like a memory stick, I don't want a guarantee and I certainly don't want to pay for it.
"Godfrey Bloom, the colourful former Ukip MEP, has resigned from the party with a warning to its newest recruit, Douglas Carswell, to beware backstabbers among his colleagues.
The politician, whose gaffes have included calling women sluts and complaining of foreign aid going to “bongo-bongo land”, said he was leaving Ukip after party chairman Steve Crowther banned him from speaking at an event in Wearside.
Bloom initially had the Ukip whip withdrawn and subsequently resigned his official role last year, after Nigel Farage said his antics had overshadowed the party’s autumn conference.
He has now decided to leave the party entirely “with a heavy heart”, despite having had a role in founding Ukip and donating large amounts of money to campaigning over the years.
In a message to Carswell, who took up his role as Ukip’s first elected MP on Monday, Bloom told LBC Radio: “I would just say to Douglas: stick to your sort, you believe in libertarianism, you believe in classical liberal economics, don’t be pushed off. But I would say, Douglas, watch your back. If you bear in mind we started in 2009 in Europe with 13 MEPs, we ended up with five, so there are dead bodies of Ukip [politicians] all over the place with a knife quivering in their back, Douglas. Make sure it’s not yours.”
In a trenchant analysis of his former party, the ex-MEP said politics was not about the truth, and that he was “very sorry this disease has been picked up by Ukip”. “It seems to be drifting towards the politically correct mainstream like everyone else,” he said. “Instead of it being the libertarian party of common sense, I’ve been banned from speaking. I don’t know where the party has gone astray, but it has gone astray.”
Despite having formerly shared a flat with Farage in Brussels, Bloom said he had lost contact completely with his former party leader. He said Ukip was now being run by Crowther, who he described as a “svengali-like” figure and a “man of mystery”.
Bloom caused a controversy in summer last year after he criticised recipients of foreign aid in “bongo-bongo” land and proceeded to exacerbate the row by trying to justify the phrase in a series of broadcast interviews. He then became the centre of another row after hitting a journalist round the head with a Ukip brochure and joking that a room debating women in politics was “full of sluts”. He made these remarks after two of his colleagues admitted that they did not clean behind the fridge – a complaint previously made by Bloom – as they spoke at a fringe event at the party conference in London.
Bloom was then caught on camera ranting at Channel 4’s Michael Crick, who asked him why there were no black faces pictured on a Ukip conference brochure, before using the pamphlet to hit him over the head.
After Bloom resigned from the party, he gave an interview to the Guardian claiming Farage was “not interested in the running of the party, or in making policy” but was merely Ukip’s chief salesman.
In April, he argued Farage was not up to the role of “managing director or chairman of the board”, even though he was a “charismatic” and “articulate” advocate for the Ukip brand.
Farage, who described Bloom’s comments as “unhelpful”, has made repeated attempts to ensure Ukip candidates stop making off-colour and eccenrtic remarks by trying to “professionalise” the party. He has appointed a new raft of spokesman to his frontbench over the summer including more women and ethnic minority representatives."
On hairdyers: a draft EC-commissioned study says hairdryers’ power input range from 900 watts to as much as 2,300 watts.
Does anyone seriously think it's necessary or sensible to hold something hotter than a 2kw electric fire a few inches centimetres in front of your head?
On metric: The CIA's Factbook (2007), states that the International System of Units has been adopted as the official system of weights and measures by all nations in the world except for Burma, Liberia and the United States. For all I know the USA might now be in splendid isolation. Surely we shouldn't be? It's not surprising about the Yanks - that country still has vast areas where they think doo-wop is the latest trend in music.
You do realise that having a 2 year guarantee on a kettle makes that kettle more expensive don't you? How about letting consumers decide how much they want to pay for teh benefit of a guarantee?
Goods from John Lewis are more expensive than most but they do very well because they give out a 5 year guarantee on many of their products. When I buy a cheap product like a memory stick, I don't want a guarantee and I certainly don't want to pay for it.
Hadn't thought about this.
Effectively all of these goods come with these "2 year warranties" knobheads on commission try and sell you whenever you buy something over a fiver at Argos or PC World.
This obviously pushes the price up, like you said.
You do realise that having a 2 year guarantee on a kettle makes that kettle more expensive don't you? How about letting consumers decide how much they want to pay for teh benefit of a guarantee?
Goods from John Lewis are more expensive than most but they do very well because they give out a 5 year guarantee on many of their products. When I buy a cheap product like a memory stick, I don't want a guarantee and I certainly don't want to pay for it.
Hadn't thought about this.
Effectively all of these goods come with these "2 year warranties" knobheads on commission try and sell you whenever you buy something over a fiver at Argos or PC World.
This obviously pushes the price up, like you said.
So does the same principle apply to the toy safety directive or gas safety or electrical safety or consumer credit or the additional rights consumers get when they purchase over the internet as a few small examples where British consumers (and businesses btw) have benefited from EU membership?
Should we scrap that lot and just really on a leap of faith that those toys we buy the kids at Christmas are probably alright...but what the hey they were a few pence cheaper!
I think the point being made was that a lot of EU law is not "silly", bureaucracy but of much value to us as consumers.
Godfrey Bloom is quite clearly a silly man, who thinks he's a bit of a comedian as well. You know the type. They go on Have I Got For News and get ripped to shreds (I think he possibly did).
There's no doubt that what he has said in the past, is racist and degrading to women (he may well have said more outrageous things). It's quite right that he has resigned from UKIP. There should be no place in politics for people that hold those views and I'm not in the least surprised that Farage and UKIP disowned him.
Once again, I will reiterate that I have never voted for UKIP and likely never will I am just interested in politics and think some of their views are valid and should be addressed.
Last night's Panorama programme on UKIP was a massive hatchet job, that achieves very little, to anyone who wants information on UKIP.
The BBC could have done the same job on any of the parties. All it leaves me wondering, is why the hatchet job ? I have to say I would have liked to have been able to actually hear what the elderly UKIP chap in Romford was shouting. He was shouting something about Jews coming to the UK after WW2 and Pakistanis coming here. I think he was trying to say, this was because we are a great country and they are welcome. A strange, uneccesary and weird thing to be shouting out, but if your party is being accused of being racist, I suppose you are keen to state otherwise.
However Panorama didn't actually broadcast what he was shouting, but they did broadcast a lady having a go at him for being racist. All that attempted to do was portray him as racist, without any proof. What a pity. I'd really like to know the facts, as we all would.
Thanks Henry, so spin has arrived at the ' Libertariian Portals'. Now to watch Carswell nullifying Farage's power whilst keeping him to display in the shop window.
With respect, the point is Dipenhall, if it's in a manifesto then we must assume that UKIP would bring in legislation to fulfill their manifesto pledge, so at some point "British values" must be defined. You can't say in an act of parliament "We all know what it means" - it simply must be clarified it and it appears that even we, a small group of people, would not be able to come to agreement on what it means.
"Values" means principles or standards of behaviour, British means traditionally associated with Britain. Not sure what the problem is, apart from if you insist on a definition, it will be a mix and match list different for every citizen. UKIP have a policy that means all things to all men and can sort out what means most to most men afterwards. Surely clever politics.
If the character of the policies meet an individual's own perception of traditional British values the manifesto will have met UKIP's objectives. If UKIP have misjudged peoples instincts and not hit the spot on enough mix and match features they will fail.
Those who need a definition of British values probably lean towards the European concept of every aspect of daily life needing to conform to codified written regulations rather than following a principle.
You don't need an Act of Parliament to define the character of a particular piece of legislation, people will assess its character for themselves.
Comments
The purpose of the regulations is to stop manufacturers using cheaply made inefficient motors using unnecessary amounts of electricity.
What can possibly be wrong with that ?
These parties don't support the rich or the working class. They are just collective groups of people fighting it out to further their careers.
But of course these days, it's rare to find a greengrocer, so you'll be buying your veg in whatever sizes the shops supply them in.
it ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that drinking water prevented dehydration.
The EU now prohibits manufacturers of bottled drinking water to label their product with anything that would suggest consumption would fight dehydration.
Diabetics to face driving bans
The having to click acceptance of cookies on nearly every bloody website I use for the first time.
Having to price everything up in metric. Surprised they have not decimalised time yet.
They are trying to ban bowls of olive oil in restaurants with your bread etc. only sealed bottles with a label to be given to customers.
beyond all of these, the eu is carrying out a major review of all directives to make sure they are fit for purpose, and try to reduce bureaucracy.
As I said earlier, people signed up for a common market, not all the additional powers and if it reverted to a free trading agreement most people would be happy.
This was the last time that a referendum on Common Market / European Union membership was offered to the British people by one of the main political parties in its manifesto .
In contrast during the following parliament Thatcher took us further in during the 1983/87 parliament by signing the Single European Act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_European_Act
If I buy a kettle from any reputable outlet here in Prague, it comes with a two year guarantee. No ifs, no buts. Before this country joined the EU that was not the case. This country follows the EU directive on consumer rights.
I've just looked up the Currys website. It actually isn't that easy to find out what their guarantee policy is. But finally I tracked it down. It says:
"Your manufacturer’s product guarantee provides cover for mechanical and electrical breakdown but will be limited to a year and may not cover parts or breakdown through mishap."
So I've got a couple of questions to ask you
1. Do you think this particular directive is "silly"? If so, why?
2. Even if you think this is "silly", how come UK businesses are able to flout it, whereas according to what you have read and believe, they have without a word of protest implemented a load of directives which are obviously silly?
3.If you read all you posted above in a newspaper, but didn't read anything in the same newspaper about the guarantees, isn't the problem your newspaper rather than the EC?
Goods from John Lewis are more expensive than most but they do very well because they give out a 5 year guarantee on many of their products. When I buy a cheap product like a memory stick, I don't want a guarantee and I certainly don't want to pay for it.
"Godfrey Bloom, the colourful former Ukip MEP, has resigned from the party with a warning to its newest recruit, Douglas Carswell, to beware backstabbers among his colleagues.
The politician, whose gaffes have included calling women sluts and complaining of foreign aid going to “bongo-bongo land”, said he was leaving Ukip after party chairman Steve Crowther banned him from speaking at an event in Wearside.
Bloom initially had the Ukip whip withdrawn and subsequently resigned his official role last year, after Nigel Farage said his antics had overshadowed the party’s autumn conference.
He has now decided to leave the party entirely “with a heavy heart”, despite having had a role in founding Ukip and donating large amounts of money to campaigning over the years.
In a message to Carswell, who took up his role as Ukip’s first elected MP on Monday, Bloom told LBC Radio: “I would just say to Douglas: stick to your sort, you believe in libertarianism, you believe in classical liberal economics, don’t be pushed off. But I would say, Douglas, watch your back. If you bear in mind we started in 2009 in Europe with 13 MEPs, we ended up with five, so there are dead bodies of Ukip [politicians] all over the place with a knife quivering in their back, Douglas. Make sure it’s not yours.”
In a trenchant analysis of his former party, the ex-MEP said politics was not about the truth, and that he was “very sorry this disease has been picked up by Ukip”. “It seems to be drifting towards the politically correct mainstream like everyone else,” he said. “Instead of it being the libertarian party of common sense, I’ve been banned from speaking. I don’t know where the party has gone astray, but it has gone astray.”
Despite having formerly shared a flat with Farage in Brussels, Bloom said he had lost contact completely with his former party leader. He said Ukip was now being run by Crowther, who he described as a “svengali-like” figure and a “man of mystery”.
Bloom caused a controversy in summer last year after he criticised recipients of foreign aid in “bongo-bongo” land and proceeded to exacerbate the row by trying to justify the phrase in a series of broadcast interviews. He then became the centre of another row after hitting a journalist round the head with a Ukip brochure and joking that a room debating women in politics was “full of sluts”. He made these remarks after two of his colleagues admitted that they did not clean behind the fridge – a complaint previously made by Bloom – as they spoke at a fringe event at the party conference in London.
Bloom was then caught on camera ranting at Channel 4’s Michael Crick, who asked him why there were no black faces pictured on a Ukip conference brochure, before using the pamphlet to hit him over the head.
After Bloom resigned from the party, he gave an interview to the Guardian claiming Farage was “not interested in the running of the party, or in making policy” but was merely Ukip’s chief salesman.
In April, he argued Farage was not up to the role of “managing director or chairman of the board”, even though he was a “charismatic” and “articulate” advocate for the Ukip brand.
Farage, who described Bloom’s comments as “unhelpful”, has made repeated attempts to ensure Ukip candidates stop making off-colour and eccenrtic remarks by trying to “professionalise” the party. He has appointed a new raft of spokesman to his frontbench over the summer including more women and ethnic minority representatives."
Does anyone seriously think it's necessary or sensible to hold something hotter than a 2kw electric fire a few
inchescentimetres in front of your head?On metric: The CIA's Factbook (2007), states that the International System of Units has been adopted as the official system of weights and measures by all nations in the world except for Burma, Liberia and the United States. For all I know the USA might now be in splendid isolation. Surely we shouldn't be? It's not surprising about the Yanks - that country still has vast areas where they think doo-wop is the latest trend in music.
Effectively all of these goods come with these "2 year warranties" knobheads on commission try and sell you whenever you buy something over a fiver at Argos or PC World.
This obviously pushes the price up, like you said.
Should we scrap that lot and just really on a leap of faith that those toys we buy the kids at Christmas are probably alright...but what the hey they were a few pence cheaper!
I think the point being made was that a lot of EU law is not "silly", bureaucracy but of much value to us as consumers.
There's no doubt that what he has said in the past, is racist and degrading to women (he may well have said more outrageous things). It's quite right that he has resigned from UKIP. There should be no place in politics for people that hold those views and I'm not in the least surprised that Farage and UKIP disowned him.
Once again, I will reiterate that I have never voted for UKIP and likely never will I am just interested in politics and think some of their views are valid and should be addressed.
Last night's Panorama programme on UKIP was a massive hatchet job, that achieves very little, to anyone who wants information on UKIP.
The BBC could have done the same job on any of the parties. All it leaves me wondering, is why the hatchet job ?
I have to say I would have liked to have been able to actually hear what the elderly UKIP chap in Romford was shouting. He was shouting something about Jews coming to the UK after WW2 and Pakistanis coming here.
I think he was trying to say, this was because we are a great country and they are welcome.
A strange, uneccesary and weird thing to be shouting out, but if your party is being accused of being racist, I suppose you are keen to state otherwise.
However Panorama didn't actually broadcast what he was shouting, but they did broadcast a lady having a go at him for being racist. All that attempted to do was portray him as racist, without any proof. What a pity. I'd really like to know the facts, as we all would.
If the character of the policies meet an individual's own perception of traditional British values the manifesto will have met UKIP's objectives. If UKIP have misjudged peoples instincts and not hit the spot on enough mix and match features they will fail.
Those who need a definition of British values probably lean towards the European concept of every aspect of daily life needing to conform to codified written regulations rather than following a principle.
You don't need an Act of Parliament to define the character of a particular piece of legislation, people will assess its character for themselves.