Lord Pearson explains EU legislation

There were several sensible letters in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday. No, I did not buy the paper - I was sent the link by a kind friend. I need hardly say that Lord Pearson's letter is particularly informative. You see, he has been paying attention to what is going on with the legislation process, unlike most, if not all, members of the House of Commons, not to mention your average Tory.

SIR – Your explanation of "How EU law reaches us" (September 17) doesn't reveal the whole frightening process. This is that the unelected Commission enjoys the monopoly to propose all EU law in secret. Their proposals are then negotiated, again in secret, by bureaucrats from nation states, in the Committee of Permanent Representatives. When the horse-trading is complete, the proposed laws go to the Council of Ministers for decision, still in secret, where the UK has 8 per cent of the vote.

The EU Parliament cannot propose legislation, but can amend and even block some of it. It doesn't do so, of course, because it is loath to delay or derail the gravy train.

British Governments have promised for many years that they won't agree to any new law in the Council which is still being "scrutinised" (that's all we can do) in the select committee of either House of Parliament. But they have broken that promise 435 times in the last six years.

Our Parliament is powerless to change any of the laws, which are then enforced by the Commission and the Luxembourg Court, against which there is no appeal. And they call this "the democratic deficit".

Actually, democratic deficit describes it all very well. Statements like this ought to be more widely known. They are more important than yet another report on the fact that MEPs are corrupt.