Here's an opportunity for all the Leavers

Free what what constraints JenniferEccles? Surely it's not too difficult to give some well-documented examples and practical and positive outcomes.

Do make sure that the legislation you want to change actually exists, though. Bendy bananas, for example, are perfectly legal because bananas grow like that.

"Bananas are classified by quality and size so they can be traded internationally. Quality standards are also needed so that people know what they are buying and that the produce meets their expectations.

Straight & bendy are not banned by the EU. Commission Regulation 2257/94 identifies certain restrictions for fruits that producers have to conform to in order to sell their produce within the EU. The regulation states that bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature."

Class 1 bananas can have "slight defects of shape" and Class 2 bananas full-on "defects of shape".
www.europarl.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/en/media/euromyths/bendybananas.html

So you could have as many curvy bananas as you desired.

Gaunt47 Do you have a link to that directive? How did the UK's representative on the EU Fisheries Commission (Nigel Farage) make the UK's case?

Here is a link to a list of summaries of EU legislation, for posters who would like to check that they are not talking a whole load of spherical objects before posting which legislation they object to.

eur-lex.europa.eu/browse/summaries.html

"“Summaries of EU legislation” are short, easy-to-understand explanations of the main legal acts passed by the EU – intended for a general, non-specialist audience.

Most cover the main types of legislation passed by the EU: directives, regulations and decisions. But some cover other documents, such as international agreements.

The summaries are grouped into 32 policy fields, and each links to the full, official version of the act.

I look forward to reading the new, improved successors to this legislation that we can expect to be passed soon.

Thank you Elegran. I'm too busy to read them all properly at the moment, but I will when I have time later.

PS. Are spherical objects covered by EU legislation?

If you search hard enough, Growstuff I am sure there is a regulation somewhere on size, shape, use, maintenance and disposal.

Safe use, of course.

Won't it be nice to get rid of all those laws so damaging to industry and profits.

I can't wait to get rid of:

Paid holidays.
Paid sickness leave.
The limiting of worker's hours.
All that appalling bureaucratic health and safety rubbish...a flat cap, a pair of hobnail boots and a fag end behind the ear were adequate for our grandfathers and would be nowadays if workers weren't such snowflakes.
The right to join a union.
Job security. Let the employer hire and fire as he/she chooses. Employees shouldn't expect job security. After all it's the employer who is taking the financial risk of running the business.
Tea and dinner breaks. Why should an employee have tea and dinner breaks? The self employed don't have that luxury.
All those expensive clean air and water rules.
Limited driving rules. Why shouldn't a lorry driver be able to drive to his destination without having to stop for mandatory rest periods? Just think how much quicker goods could be delivered.
And don't get me started on all those food safety rules. Food fit for human consumption!!! If they eat it and it can't be proved it made them ill then it's OK.
Animal husbandry rules. Food would be cheaper if we didn't have to follow those 'humane' laws. Cram the animals in and we can solve the problems of infections in factory farming by the use of antibiotics and chlorine dips.The namby pamby animal lovers can just pay extra for organic if they choose. Why should the rest of us suffer? Think how much cheaper food will be.

I can't wait for this Brave New World.

Gosh, I'm sorry I can't help you Growstuff at 16.03, the OP didn't suggest chapter and verse, just asked what red tape turned us against the EU.

growstuff

Your posts repeatedly asking other posters for examples of where the UK has to abide by E U regulations/directives in turn leads me to ask you a question.

How many EU Regulations / Directives do you believe the UK has had to adopt during it's membership of the EU? In one of your posts you say " in fact, I'm pushed to remember that many," so how many do you think have been adopted.?

Why do do you think the UK Government introduced the ' Great Repeal Bill'?

Well, excuse me, POGS, but I assumed they knew of a few of them, apart from what they'd read in the Daily Express or whatever.

I haven't a clue how many directives we voted for, as an equal member of the EU - thousands, I expect. I was really wondering about those the UK allegedly adopted against its will.

One poster claimed that she had to accept EU directives on a daily basis. All I know is that, as a senior leader, I often had bits of paper (or emails) shoved in front of my nose and was told to make sure I complied, but I honestly can't remember one which had "by order of the EU" on it.

Gaunt47 I'm not an expert on fishing by any means. I do know that the EU's decision weren't perfect. However, Nigel Farage was the UK's rep on the Fisheries Commission for years and did sod all to protect the British fishing industry.

I also know that there's more to the fishing story than meets the eye and the myths which were sold to the public. Michael Gove actually lied. I'm not claiming everybody went that far, but there really is more to it.

Fishing has been declining since the introduction of massive trawlers, which clear the sea for miles. They don't respect the size or species of fish.

The UK sold its quotas to big (often foreign) fishing companies because they took the cash in exchange for the hard work of fishing. It was the UK government, not the EU, which was responsible for allocating quotas and could have stopped the practice of selling off to foreign fisheries.

I'm afraid this is only the beginning of the story for British fisheries. For a start, unless the British develop a taste for sand eels, we have to entice the "right" kind of fish to start breeding in British waters. It should be interesting. Meanwhile, I'm interested in following up facts.

That reminds me - I might have voted to remain if the British had been less assiduous in adopting everything coming out of Brussels. I always admired the French, the Spanish, the Italians for taking a more selective approach....

Vampirequeen. Yes. I agree. Let's forget about all the good directives from EU including minimum wage and go back to how it was "when I were a lass"

I must admit I don't understand your logic Gaunt47. For a start, the UK didn't meekly accept everything the EU said. Secondly, if other countries took a more selective approach, that's an admission that our own government is at fault.

BTW I've been doing a little digging around about your claim about fishermen only being able to catch one species and I found out what it's about.

Behind the reforms is a wish to abolish the practice of discards of unwanted fish. Technology is available which would enable fishermen to be more selective in their catches, so they only catch (or mainly only catch) what they want and can sell. That might mean only catching a limited number of species.

If our Fisheries Commission rep hadn't been such a lazy and selfish freeloader, the UK could have raised concerns about the policy, but of course it didn't. I have no idea how effective the new technology is.

Ah well! I'm looking forward to the future, when loads of edible fish will be attracted to British waters, to be caught only by British fishing boats. Of course, they won't be tempted to overfish, so our stocks will be sustainable for ever. I hope I don't have to wait too long.

PS. Keep your fingers crossed that Scotland doesn't gain independence and NI doesn't join the Republic.

AGAA4 Ah yes! Those halcyon days, when we all ate stews and lumpy mash, but at least nobody spoke any foreign languages!

Could we have a head slapping emoticon please? Or eye rolling? Please tell me that nobody voted to leave based on the bendy banana rule? Seriously? You do know that was a piece of fiction written by our beloved leader don't you?

I must admit I don't understand your logic Gaunt47. For a start, the UK didn't meekly accept everything the EU said. Secondly, if other countries took a more selective approach, that's an admission that our own government is at fault.

This is the bit I never understood either. I would have thought it obvious that the problem did not lie with the EU but with our governments if - and that is questionable if in some cases - other countries were being more selective.

In fact, the EU kept telling us, when we raised issues, how other countries were dealing with that issue but staying within the rules agreed by all countries. I always thought it was the laziness of our own government, the one we are now relying on, who did not make the most of our membership. It was, it seemed to me, far to easy for our MSM to back them in simply blaming the EU.

Add that to the fact that the man who is now Supreme Leader in this country lied about the EU without stopping, in order to keep his journalist's salary as high as possible and I can't see why people think as you do Gaunt.

Don't be ridiculous GillT57 it was just mentioned, that's all. No-one would have voted on that issue alone ? (there's the eye-rolling for you)

Well, I've been out all day and actually expected this thread to sink like a stone and to have disappeared by the time I got back.

Thanks everyone who has contributed.

vampirequeen well put. I have never had an answer to the question “what EU laws or directives would you like to see repealed?” Similarly, a man was complaining about “these stupid health and safety laws” and I asked him which ones he would scrap. He thought for a moment and said “children not being allowed to play with conkers.” I explained that was a myth.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/09/conkers-goggles-myth-health-safety

He couldn’t think of any others but “there must be lots of them.” I think that is how some people view EU directives: “we don’t know any, but there must be lots of them.”

AGAA4 Thu 06-Feb-20 15:45:03
Vampirequeen. Yes. I agree. Let's forget about all the good directives from EU including minimum wage"
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Are you sure the EU give this country the Minimum Wage?

The national minimum wage was introduced in the UK in 1998 by the Labour party. Not all EU countries have a minimum wage. Italy does not. Paid holidays were introduced in the UK in 1938. Long before we joined the EU. My point is no one would say many EU directives in relation to employment, health and safety issues etc are a bad thing but would these things not have happened in the UK anyway, due to natural progression and the work of the unions. Countries not in the EU, such as Australia and New Zealand have Food safety standards and workers rights, including a minimum wage, and seem to flourish.

Thank you for that anna7
Yes, it was the Labour government
Minimum Wage Act 1998