mr president this debate tonight is symptomatic of all that is wrong with the more europe agenda
it is simply staggering for me to have listened and to see how greatly removed the debate is from the agenda of ordinary citizens
mr duff quite rightly acknowledges that there is a gap to fill between the european powers and the individual citizens
that is absolutely right but that gap will not be filled by developing european parties and as another contributor to the debate has said giving those parties the resources to match their ambitions
i would challenge mr duff to go to his constituency at the weekend and try to sell those views to local community groups that have had their funding cut because of austerity measures imposed by his coalition government in the united kingdom
the gap will be filled however by giving people their say on lisbon on increasing federalism and on the litany of red tape that comes from these institutions
