Not in the real world! Ex MEP exposes EU's sheer disregard for taxpayers
THE European Union has no concept of financial discipline, is woefully out of touch and has accrued all of its power through "guile and deceit", a former Brexit Party MEP has said.
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Rupert Lowe also offered candid assessments of high-profile figures Guy Verhofstadt and Michel Barnier - while warning fellow Europeans Brussels was hell-bent on gaining control of every aspect of their lives. Mr Lowe, who served as MEP for the West Midlands Region after being elected in May of last year, opened his lid on his time at the European Parliament, which he said was both an "interesting place" and deeply flawed as an institution.
It's the only place I have ever worked where how much something cost was not an issue
He told Express.co.uk: "It's the only place I have ever worked where how much something cost was not an issue.
"Most people who are in the real world are all subject to budgets - and if we don't all respect our budgets, we end up running out of money.
"With the European Parliament, the way it operates is they spend X and then they levy Y.
"There does not appear to be any form of austerity at all."
Assessing the bloc's place within the continent of Europe, Mr Lowe said it was outliving its usefulness.
He said: "They paint themselves as the peacekeeper since World War 2.
"But in fact, if you look at the history, World War 2 was won by the Anglo-Saxon alliance with Russia's help coming in from the east.
"In fact the peace has been kept because we had a post-war Anglo-Saxon hegemony which has ensured that if people behave unreasonably, while the liberal west still has control, it stops it.
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"We are getting to the end of that unfortunately."
In respect of his time as an MEP, Mr Lowe said: "What I did enjoy about the European Union is it is a place where a lot of debate takes place and a lot of interesting things happen.
"It has got some strengths in that respect but is it good value for the British people who are still paying for it even though we are no longer represented, for the German people, for the Italian people? No, it definitely isn't.
"It is an example of unaccountable power which really does not achieve anything."
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During the months he spent in Brussels, Mr Lowe, former chairman of Southampton FC, also got to see high-profile figures associated with the bloc at close quarters.
He explained: "We clashed with Guy Verhofstadt, Guy Verhofstadt is Belgian who is committed to the European project.
"And Michel Barnier I have met, I like Barnier as a human being, I think he is a highly principled Frenchman who puts the interests of France and Europe at the top of his agenda.
"And if he is negotiating against a bunch of wibbly-wobbly people on behalf of the British people, then he is always going to trounce them.
"I did enjoy it, I thought it was an interesting place but it is a highly misguided place and it is not a principled place, it applies different rules and different principles to different countries with different economies.
Mr Lowe also admitted party leader Nigel Farage had "had fun" in the chamber of the Parliament, frequently sparring with Mr Verhofstadt himself.
He added: "Nigel is a very good orator and has probably done more to advance the cause of British sovereignty than almost much anybody."
Looking to the future, Mr Lowe noted recent comments by European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's finance supremo, floating the idea of a bloc-wide digital tax.
Mr Lowe said: "Ultimately they have always had this wish to tax the City of London with a turnover tax so ultimately all that is is a similar idea.
"What they are trying to is effectively get control. Once you control the budget and tax you end up controlling the way in which people live their lives.
"The EU's power has always been accrued through guile and deceit.
"It is out of touch - it doesn't understand the headwinds which are being put in the way of small businesses which are the lifeblood of any truly free economy."