MANY local people will be rightly concerned about the safety of food following the health scares including BSE with meat products.
Recent European Commission proposals to deregulate meat inspection have been successfully blocked by Labour MEPs. The Commission wanted to allow large companies to appoint their own red meat inspectors. At the present time, this work is being carried out by independent bodies like local authority meat inspectors.
Labour MEPs had feared that, if approved these plans would lead to privatisation and the danger that employees might face coercion from their bosses to be compliant. This may have led to yet more threats to the safety of the food we eat. The European Parliament eventually rejected the Commission's proposals.
However, I was therefore amazed and appalled to see that Tory and Lib Dem MEPs along with the hard right UKIP, had voted in favour of these privatisation proposals.
This is tangible prove of the European Parliament working to the benefit of all sensible and concerned people irrespective of nationality, including the United Kingdom.
David Chadwick
Dale Lee
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