A group of Danes dressed as Father Christmas were spotted in the gallery of the European Parliament this week. Meanwhile during votes MEPs from all parties sported red and white scarves in "solidarity" with opponents of the Government of Belarus, a dictatorship on the EU's eastern border (although for much of it's history few in the west have minded about this as no one was sure where Belarus was). Recent elections there have been condemned by the international community for being rigged, although sadly I was unable to gather whether this was the reason for the Danes' fancy dress. The leader of Labour in the Parliament stood up and asked, "are these people fruitcakes?"
Which brings me onto UKIP. They got a lot of press last week after comments made by David Cameron. They are democratically elected and so entitled to their views but surely it would be better if they used their positions of influence to point out how the EU wastes money rather than just railing against the "gravy train" while collecting all of their financial entitlements?
This morning I spoke at the Conservative spring conference in Manchester about biofuels. This is an exciting area where UK farmers could benefit in the future from our need for fuel as oil becomes evermore expensive. Biodiesel can be produced from most things, rape seed is especially good, and converting it into fuel is relatively cheap and suited to development by small businesses. This is a growth sector and one where British innovation should be at the forefront of technological development. Biofuels aren't the answer to the problems of climate change and our need for fossil fuels but they could be part of the solution and a support to Britain's diversifying farmers.
However, I sometimes wonder if our Government has a policy for supporting future UK growth in small businesses and highly skilled workers. Only last year Tony Blair spoke about how important British Airbus workers are to our national economy and today the DTI agreed that it could be sold to a French and German consortium. I believe in free trade but it should be fair. Why should continental companies buy British ones and then block foreigners from buying theirs?
