mr president the proposed six point five increase on the parliament budget for twenty eleven is yet another indication of how far this house has departed from the real world and the interests of its voters
how can we explain to our constituents in normal times let alone in times of crisis that the total cost they are paying for each one of us exceeds gbp two million per year
how can we tell them that if they want a high-level parliament which some take pride in this is the bill they have to pay
how do we explain to all those who are losing their jobs that we the meps need more staff because of the lisbon treaty
or that the officeholders in this parliament need an increase in their allowances because they work harder
the fifteen of youth who are unemployed in the uk or worse the forty-five of youth who are unemployed in spain will not be able to see how this increase will help them get a job
many of them are fairly well educated
they only lack job opportunities
i frankly would not be able to respond if they asked this question
can somebody explain to my voters how the fact that this parliament has two seats one in brussels and one in strasbourg will help them pay the mortgage feed their children and educate them because this is a big part of the gbp two million cost that i spoke about before
as regards the commission it is all very nice to talk about noble objectives such as investing in youth and education promoting the study of languages and fostering innovation for economic development and job creation in europe but the auditors report gives no comfort on how european union funds are being spent nor do the outstanding commitments show the eu is very good at planning
no proposal for an increase in the budget should be tolerated
