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Originally Posted by Chris
Hope springs eternal, however there is at least one ghost airport in Spain that I can think of off the top of my head.
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The EU is definitely not perfect. A number of schemes which were partially funded with EU money were poorly thought through. Mistakes also happen with national funding. I am sure we can all think of projects which probably should not have been invested in by the British government.
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Originally Posted by Chris
I have no problem with foreign aid as a concept, however I believe it should be controlled by the British government, not handed over to a bureaucracy in Brussels and then handed on as if it's their largesse. It seems you agree with the notion that foreign aid, where possible, should ultimately be of benefit to the benefactor, for example in the creation of a market for our goods. I agree with that too, and I think the British government is better placed to ensure our foreign aid is spent to that end.
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The EU makes policy at an overall EU level. This is to rise above national governments (at the appropriate times) and seek to help make policy and fund projects which help the overall European Union succeed (i.e. single market). Do you really want all of the 28 member states making decisions on every project across the entire union? That would make for very poor decision making. Also handing this funding and decision making back to national governments would mean that there are no funds available to help fund projects which benefit more than one member state.
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Originally Posted by Chris
Quibbling over the amount of our contribution is somewhat besides the point, in any case. It was an argument for or against leaving the EU, and that's an argument that was decided over a year ago. There is no point re-running those arguments now. Nevertheless, while £10bn may be only a small proportion of our overall annual expenditure, it is still in absolute terms a very large sum of money and one that I am glad will now be under our control.
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I'm sorry, but your comment above is absurd. If we took that approach, then perhaps all of you should have stopped complaining after the 1975 vote when we voted to join/remain part of the EEC/EU.