DON`T WORRY, THEY`RE HERE..

There has been a lot of misinformation leading up to tomorrow`s local council elections and the referendum about changing the voting system.   I have to confess almost total indifference to either, an attitude brought about largely by the petty squabbling between our mainly national politicians who seem to have little better to do than to score political points off each other and indulge in schoolyard bullying and name calling.  Well, if their antics don`t turn you off politics, I don`t know what will.

And it`s pretty clear that one particular `story` that has emerged in recent days is yet another deliberate attempt at the kind of pre-election `mindgames` designed to influence the way we vote.   The `story` in question refers to the Arc Manche, an idea dreamt up by the EU 15 years ago in an attempt by Brussels Eurocrats to break down national barriers across Europe.   In fairly typical EU style, the Arc Manche was devised, without asking anyone, as a cross-border region comprising northern France and southern England and in 2005, a special assembly was created to include `representatives` from those areas.  

As such, of course, the Arc Manche has to have its own President - some unknown French politician apparently - its own transnational emblem (aka logo) and a muti-million euro annual budget to pursue its curious `projects.`  These include a £7.6million network of cross-channel cycle lanes;   a £2million programme of cross-channel contemporary art tours;   and a £5.5million scheme to pay for circus clowns to perform throughout the Arc Manche region.

It`s doubtful that projects of this kind will provide us long suffering taxpayers with any semblence of value for money, especially in times of economic stringency.   Value for money is, of course,  a concept quite foreign to our friends in Brussels, as witnessed by their recent demands for a 5.9% budget increase which would take the UK`s annual contribution to the EU above the £10billion mark - £400 for every UK household.

Now it may well be that the emergence of this 15-year old Arc Manche business has come to the fore deliberately in advance of tomorrow`s elections, in which case it should perhaps be treated with the scepticism it might deserve.   But please don`t bother to send in the clowns - they`re here in the EU already.